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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE SORROW AND HOPE OF 
THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN 



The Sorrow and Hope 

of 

The Egyptian Sudan 

A Survey of Missionary Conditions 

and Methods of Work in 

the Egyptian Sudan 



By CHARLES R. WATSON 




ILLUSTRATE® 



The Board of Foreign Missions 

of the 

United Presbyterian Church of North America 

Philadelphia, Pa. 



BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MISSION STATION AT DOLEIB HILL ON THE SOBAT RIVER, 



The Sorrow and Hope 

of 

The Egyptian Sudan 

A Survey of Missionary Conditions 

and Methods of Work in 

the Egyptian Sudan 



By CHARLES R. WATSON 

it 




ILLUSTRATE® 



The Board of Foreign Missions 

of the 

United Presbyterian Church of North America 

Philadelphia, Pa. 



5f3L m 



COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY 
THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 

OF THE 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF 

NORTH AMERICA. 



$So 



©CI.A343578 
MA / 



To the 

Men and Women 

Who Know Christ, 

Who Believe in Prayer 

and 

Who are Resolved to Place 

First in Their Lives 

Obedience to the Great Commission 



PREFACE 

BOOKS on the Egyptian Sudan are not 
few in number, 'but books which de- 
scribe this interesting country from the 
standpoint of missions may be counted 
upon the fingers of one hand. 'The Egyptian Su- 
dan" by the Rev. J. K. Giffen, D. D., has been the 
best known missionary book on this section of Af- 
rica, and in it the missionary conditions and ex- 
periences of a decade ago are set forth with a viv- 
idness and a descriptive power which can scarcely 
be rivalled. During the past decade, however, 
.nuch has been done, and still more has been learn- 
ed of what remains to be done. The present book 
undertakes to tell the story of what has been ac- 
complished and to lift the vision of the unfin- 
ished task. 

To make the book serviceable as a permanent 
missionary Handbook, and also to provide a set- 
ting for the missionary work and vision that are 
presented, the first chapter is devoted to a descrip- 

VII 



tion of the country, the second and third chapters 
present the sorrowful story of Slavery and Mah- 
dism in the Sudan, and the fourth chapter deals 
with the people and their characteristics. Then 
follows an account of existing missionary work 
and its methods and problems. The book closes 
with a presentation of the claim and the call of 
the Land of the Blacks. Important supplement- 
ary information is presented in the Appendix. 

Special prominence has been given to the mis- 
sionary work of the United Presbyterian Church 
of North America, which labors in the Sudan 
under the name of "The American Mission," in- 
asmuch as this book is to be used by the young 
people of that Church for special missionary 
study. 

The most valuable aid received from such 
books as Dr. GifTen's "The Egyptian Sudan," 
Westermann's "The Shilluk People: Their Lan- 
guage and Folklore," and the official publications 
of the Sudan Government will be evident to every 
reader. The author wishes to express his indebt- 
edness not only to these sources of information, 
but also to those who have aided him personally 
by reviewing the facts presented as well as the 



VIII 



outline followed, and by assisting in the many de- 
tails connected with the publication of the book. 
The book is sent forth with the earnest prayer 
that in this day of signal opportunity and of re- 
newed missionary interest, the Church of Jesus 
Christ may enter into the now unoccupied fields 
of the Egyptian Sudan, so that its tribes and peo- 
ples may "obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow 
and sighing shall flee away." 



CONTENTS 

Chapter. Page. 

I. The Land of the Blacks 15 

II. A Sorrowful Past 45 

III. Fire and Sword 71 

IV. The People 105 

V. The Day Breaks 129 

VI. The Message of Hope 151 

VII. Challenge and Conquest 179 

Appendix. 

I. Statistics of "American Mission" 209 

II. Statistics of Church Miss. Society 211 

III. Khartum Meteorological Notes 213 

IV. Climatic Conditions at Doleib Hill 214 

V. Ethnology of the Sudan 218 

VI. Shilluk Religious Ceremony 220 

VII. Shilluk Folklore 221 

VIII. Extract from Lord Cromer's Report 224 

IX. Bibliography 227 

Index 229 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



24 



1/ 

32 ^ 
36*/ 



52 



y 



Bird's-Eye View of Mission Station at 
Doleib Hill Frontispiece ^ 

Transportation and Travel in the 

Egyptian Sudan Facing page 

The River Nile in Nubia 

Relief Map of Northeastern Africa . . 
Types of Land in the Egyptian Sudan . 

Slave Raiding in the Sudan 

Major-General Charles George Gordon 
The Governor's Palace at Khartum . . . 

The Mahdi's Tomb and Death of 
Khalifa 

Kitchener and Wingate 

Native Houses in Southern Sudan .... 

Races in the Egyptian Sudan 

Views of Khartum 

Missionary Work 

Mr. Roosevelt in the Egyptian Sudan . 

Missionary Agencies 

War Dance of Shilluk Warriors 

Sudanese Types 

Diagram Maps 



60 «/ 

80 1/ 

96^' 
100 >/ 

114 
124*/ 
136' 
160 : 
168" 

188 



200 

pages 25, 42 



CHAPTER I 



The Land of the Blacks 



"Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, 
Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; 
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, 
Even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters." 

— Isaiah. 

"I view the end of the geographical feat as the be- 
ginning of the missionary enterprise." 

— David Livingstone. 

"Yesterday, Africa was the continent of history, of 
mystery, and of tragedy; to-day it is the continent of 
opportunity; to-morrow, if the Church is true to itself, 
it will be the continent of triumphant victories for 
Christ." 

— Bishop J. C. Hartzell. 



T 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 



HE lure of the Sudan is difficult to explain. The Lure of 
Here is Steevens's explanation: "Perhaps 



to Englishmen — half-savage still on the 
pinnacle of their civilization — the very 
charm of the land lies in its empty barbarism. 
There is space in the Sudan. There is the fine, 
purified desert air, and the long stretching gallops 
over its sand. There are the things at the very 
back of life, and no other to posture in front of 
them, — hunger and thirst to assuage, distance to 
win through, pain to bear, life to defend, and 
death to face. You have gone back to the spring 
water of your infancy. You are a savage again — 
a savage with Rosbach water, if there is any left, 
and a Mauser repeating pistol-carbine, if the sand 
has not jammed it, but still at the last word a sav- 
age. You are unprejudiced, simple, free. You 
are a naked man, facing naked nature. I do not 
believe that any of us who come home whole will 
think, from our easy-chairs, unkindly of the Su- 
dan." 

To many, the lure of the Sudan is the lure of 
adventure. Here are miles upon miles of unex- 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Adventure. 



Exploration. 



plored country, villages and whole tribes that 
have not yet been marked on any map, streams 
and even rivers whose sources and whose outlets 
are only roughly known, hilly ranges if not 
mountains that have not yet been scaled, peoples 
who have never yet seen a white man, innumer- 
able forms of vegetable life and of animal life 
that await identification and classification. All 
this sounds strange when you add that the capi- 
tal of this country can be reached in what an 
American would call a "Pullman sleeper" and 
with a well-appointed dining-car, and that from 
Khartum you may go a thousand miles farther 
south with quite as much safety and comfort as 
you would have going by boat from New Or- 
leans to Cincinnati, and with vastly greater in- 
terest. Get away, however, from that main line 
of travel and immediately you are in the desolate 
desert, the grassy prairie or the marshy jungle, 
where adventure invites and wild game lures the 
hunters of Europe and America. 

Until quite recent times, interest in geogra- 
phical exploration drew men and even women 
to the Sudan. It was in the sixties that Miss 
Tinne, grand-daughter of Admiral van Capellen, 
headed an exploring expedition which pierced to 
the Sobat and even to Gondokoro, although a 
doctor and the Baroness van Capellen paid the 
price with their lives sacrificed to the black water 
fever. Nor was Miss Tinne the only woman who 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 19 

braved the dangers of travel through the Sudan, 
while the roll of men explorers is a long one and 
honorable with such names upon it as Bruce and 
Baker and Schweinfurth and Gordon. 

To ethers, again, the lure of the Sudan is the History, 
strange fascination of its sorrowful history. 
Along these tangled paths of prairie and open 
forest, or along the scorching caravan routes of 
the desert, or perchance shut up out of sight and 
hearing in the slave dhows, have gone through- 
out the years and decades, countless thousands 
of slaves, women chiefly and children, but young 
boys and men too. And for every life that reach- 
ed the slave markets of Khartum or Egypt, at 
least two other lives perished along the Via 
Dolorosa of the slave route, and probably two 
other lives were sacrificed in the murderous raid 
that preceded the capture of the living booty. 
To those who have this interest in the "Land of 
the Blacks" (for such is the literal meaning of 
the word "Sudan"), the name of Gordon, the 
"father and savior of the Sudan," and the hero 
and martyr of Khartum, occupies a place of sin- 
gular honor and of peculiar interest. 

Another ground of interest in the Sudan re- Missions, 
mains to be mentioned. It is the missionary 
motive and passion. The past century has been 
preeminently a century of missions. A passion 
for the extension of the Kingdom of Christ, 
strangely restrained, almost entirely extinguished 



Isaiah. 



20 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

for even whole centuries, has blazed up once 
again like a living fire in the heart of the 
Church, and has become the most powerful as 
well as the most hopeful feature of modern Chris- 
tianity. This new missionary impulse of Christi- 
anity has a driving power that promises to accept 
nothing less than world conquest. To be sure, 
the movement is only in its beginnings as yet, 
but who will despise "the day of small things," 
when the missionary program is a world pro- 
gram. Because there are unconquered king- 
doms along the two Niles in the great Sudan, 
the Christian missionary movement adds to the 
love of adventure and to the fascination of sor- 
row and suffering and to the lure of exploration, 
this constraining motive of interest in the Christ- 
ian conquest of the Egyptian Sudan and in the 
fulfilment of the prophecy voiced twenty-six cen- 
turies ago by Isaiah, that "In that time shall a 
present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts 

". . . . from a people tall and smooth, 

Ever from a people terrible from their beginning on- 
ward; 

A nation that meteth out, and treadeth down, 

Whose land the rivers divide — 

To the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the 
Mount Zion." 

This prophecy cannot find its fulfilment until 
God's gift shall have been first carried to that 
people by the preaching of the Gospel. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 21 

In Kitchener's victorious campaigns for the 
conquest of the Sudan, no department of the 
army was regarded as more vital than the Intel- 
ligence Department. Colonel Wingate, now the 
Sirdar, was Chief of the Intelligence Depart- 
ment, and it was said of him, "Whatever there 
was to know, Colonel Wingate surely knew it, 
for he makes it his business to know everything." 
In the missionary enterprise of the Christian Know About It 
Church, nothing is more important than its In- 
telligence Department, and there is great need 
for many a Colonel Wingate who will "make it 
his business to know." Devotion to missions 
must not be made a substitute for a thorough 
knowledge of missions, else how can the cam- 
paign be wisely planned ? how can the enterprise 
be properly equipped? how can prayer be cor- 
rectly focused upon the really vital issues ? While 
there is much to be learned regarding condi- 
tions in the Egyptian Sudan, yet there is much 
that has already been discovered, and it is a plain 
Christian duty to become familiar with such facts 
as are vitally related to the Christian conquest 
of the Sudan. Among such vital facts will be 
not merely spiritual and religious conditions, but 
also material and physical conditions. 

The Egyptian Sudan is a vast territory, more size, 
extensive than most people realize. Its area 
would cover all the States east of the Mississippi, 
with enough left over to obliterate England, 



22 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Scotland and Ireland. Its greatest length in a 
straight line, from north to south, is 1,250 miles 
and from east to west about 1,080. If its south- 
ern boundary were placed at Key West, Florida, 
its northern boundary would lie near Toronto, 
Canada. As a matter of fact, however, the Egyp- 
tian Sudan lies much farther to the south than 
this; it lies so far in the tropics that even its 
northern boundary is three degrees south of Key 
West, Florida, while its southern boundary is 
four degrees south of the Panama Canal. Its 
northern and southern boundaries fall respec- 
tively in latitudes which are about three degrees 
north of Bombay, India, and about three degrees 
south of Ceylon. In describing so great a stretch 
of country, it would be manifestly unsafe to gen- 
eralize about anything. 

For practical purposes and in the Orient es- 
pecially, distances are to be measured not merely 
in miles, but also in hours and days. To go from 
Wadi Haifa (the northernmost station) to Khar- 
Distances, turn, 579 miles, by rail, takes about 25 hours. 
To go from Khartum to Gondokoro, 1,077 miles 
by river boat, takes about thirteen days. Then, 
too, it is well to remember that in 1880, Gessi 
Pasha was blocked for some six weeks by the 
sudd of the (River) Bahr el Ghazal, lost over 
100 men, and would have starved, but for a 
timely relief expedition. So you cannot always 
be sure of your dates in the Sudan. At Gon- 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 23 

dokoro, or slightly beyond, the steamer service 
ends, but there are still more than one hundred 
miles to be covered to reach the southern bound- 
ary. 1 

North and south, the railroad and then the 
river, the great natural highway of the Sudan, Travel, 
afford comparatively easy and rapid modes of 
travel. For journeys east and west, there are 
only the time-honored caravan routes and the re- 
cently-opened railroad from Khartum to El 
Obeid in Kordofan. 

The chief railway lines are four: (a) from 
Wadi Haifa to Khartum; this is the line used in 
entering the Sudan by way of Egypt; (b) from 
Berber to Suakin, the latter being the port of 
entry for arrival by way of the Red Sea; (c) 
from Khartum via Sennar to El Obeid; (d) 
from Abu Hamed to Kareima. 

The whole history of the Sudan and of mod- 
ern missionary effort is a commentary upon the 
problems of transportation and means of com- Gordon's March, 
munication. While he was Governor^General of 
the Sudan, Gordon dealt successfully with many 
most difficult situations by forced marches, which 
took his enemies completely by surprise. On 
one occasion he covered 85 miles on camel in a 
day and a half and rode up through the lines of 
an army that had expected to rebel, but thought 
it had hours in which to formulate its plans. Thus 
by his amazing rapidity, Gordon solved a situa- 
tion which bristled with dangers and difficulties. 



24 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Effect on Mis- 
sions. 



Meaning of 
"Sudan." 



On the other hand, not merely the enemy but 
chiefly difficulties of transportation delayed the 
expedition sent to relieve him at the time of the 
siege of Khartum, and reached there after the 
city had fallen, just two days too late. Difficul- 
ties of travel and means of communication like- 
wise affect vitally all missionary effort, deter- 
mining, in large measure, the cost of the enter- 
prise, the outreach of influence of a given sta- 
tion or missionary, the number of stations re- 
quired, the need for medical provision, the regu- 
lations as to furloughs and mission meetings ; in- 
deed, the whole character of missionary work is 
frequently affected by such considerations and 
conditions. 

The word "Sudan" literally means "the Land of 
the Blacks," and as such is really applicable to the 
black belt of Africa from east to west. The 
Egyptian Sudan is that portion of the great Su- 
dan which is in political affiliation with Egypt. 

It will make it easier to refer to different sec- 
tions of the Egyptian Sudan, if the names and 
general location of its main political divisions are 
mastered with clearness and accuracy. The out- 
line map on page 25 will be of service in this 
connection. The following are the names of the 
thirteen provinces into which the Egyptian Su- 
dan is divided, together with the names of their 
chief towns: 




Transportation and Travel in the Sudan. 
River Boat — Railroad — Train of Porters. 



26 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Name of Province 

Bahr el Ghazal. 

Berber. 

Blue Nile. 

Dongola. 

Haifa. 

Kassala. 

Khartum. 

Kordofan. 

Mongalla. 

Red Sea. 

Sennar. 

Upper Nile. 

White Nile. 

To these may be added, 
which is a semi-independent 
the Sudan Government and 
chief town. 



Chief Town 
Wau. 

El Darner. 
Wad Medani. 
Merowe. 
Haifa. 
Kassala. 
Khartum. 
El Obeid. 
Mongalla. 
Port Sudan. 
Singa. 
Kodok.* 
El Dueim. 
the Sultanate of Darfur 
kingdom paying tribute to 
having El Fasher as its 



Each province is again divided into a varying 
number of Ma'murias, as for example : 
Abwong. 

Gambela (Trading Post). 
Kaka (Trading Post). 
Khor Atar. 
Kodok. 
Malakal (Site for new Gov- 



Upper Nile Province. 
(42,350 sq. miles.) 



ernment Headquar- 
ters, and Base of 
Irrigation Depart- 
ment. ) . 



Melut. 
Renk. 
l Taufikia. 



c To be changed to Malakal. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 2,*] 

The political boundaries of the Egyptian Su- Boundaries, 
dan may be roughly indicated as follows : on the 
north, Egypt at the 22d parallel of north lati- 
tude ; on the east, the Red Sea, Eritrea and Abys- 
sinia (the boundary line has recently been ad- 
justed) ; on the west and the southwest, a line 
running through the Libyan Desert agreed to by 
France, then the Sultanate of Wadai and the line 
of watershed between the Congo and Shari riv- 
ers on the one side and the Nile on the other; 
and on the south, the Belgian Congo and Uganda 
(approximately the 5th parallel of north lati- 
tude). 

The question is frequently asked, What sort 
of a country is the Egyptian Sudan? After what 
has been pointed out as to the size of the Egyp- 
tian Sudan, no one would expect any single gen- 
eral description of the country to suffice. How- 
ever, to bring out more clearly the contrasts 
which different sections of the Sudan present, 
two descriptions may be compared with each 
other : 



"The poor Sudan ! The wretched, dry Sudan ! "Wretched Su- 
Count up all the gains you will, yet what a hideous dan -" 
irony it remains, this fight of half a generation for 
such an emptiness. People talk of the Sudan as the 
East; it is not the East. The East has age and color; 
the Sudan has no color and no age — just a monotone 
of squalid barbarism. It is not a country; it has noth- 
ing that makes a country. Some brutish institutions it 



28 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

has, and some bloodthirsty chivalry. But it is not a 
country; it has neither nationality, nor history, nor arts, 
nor even natural features. Just the Nile — the nig- 
gard Nile refusing himself to the desert — and for the 
rest there is absolutely nothing to look at in the Sudan. 
Nothing grows green. Only yellow halfa-grass to make 
you stumble, and sapless mimosa to tear your eyes ; 
dom-palms that mock with wooden fruit, and Sodom 
apples that lure with flatulent poison. For beasts it 
has tarantulas and scorpions and serpents; devouring 
white ants, and every kind of loathsome bug that flies 
or crawls. Its people are naked and dirty, ignorant and 
besotted. It is a quarter of a continent of sheer squalor. 
Overhead the pitiless furnace of the sun, under foot 
the never-easing treadmill of the sand, dust in the throat, 
tuneless singing in the ears, searing flame in the eye, — 
the Sudan is a God-accursed wilderness, an empty limbo 
of torment for ever and ever. Surely enough, 'When 
Allah made the Sudan,' say the Arabs, 'he laughed !' 
You can almost hear the fiendish echo of it crackling 
over the fiery sand." — Steevens. 

Such is one description and this is the other: 

Pleasant "Trees with immense stems, and of a height sur- 

Scenes. passing all that we had elsewhere seen (not even ex- 

cepting the palms of Egypt), here stood in masses 
which seemed unbounded, except where at intervals 
some less towering forms rose gradually higher and 
higher beneath their shade. In the innermost recesses 
of these woods one would come upon an avenue like the 
colonnade of an Egyptian temple, veiled in the leafy 
shade of a triple roof above. Seen from without, they 
had all the appearance of impenetrable forests, but, 
traversed within, they opened into aisles and corridors 



. w,,. 




The River Nile in Nubia. 
In the Sudan, however, the river flows through a wholly level country. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 20, 

which were musical with many a murmuring fount. 
Hardly anywhere was the height of these less than 
seventy feet, and on an average it was much nearer one 
hundred; yet, viewed from without, they very often 
failed to present anything of that imposing sight which 
was always so captivating when taken from the brinks 
of the brooks within. In some places the sinking of the 
ground along which the gallery tunnels ran would be so 
great that not half the wood revealed itself at all to 
the contiguous steppes, while in that wood (out of sight 
as it was) many a 'gallery' might still exist." — Schwein- 
furth. 

Both descriptions are true. We need only to 
note that more than a thousand miles lie between 
the sections of country which they describe. 
Steevens was looking out upon the northern des- 
ert stretches of the Berber Province; Schwein- 
furth was either at the southernmost point of the 
Bahr el Ghazal Province or had already entered 
the forest region of West-Central Africa. 

With these two descriptions, compare a third, 
which was written half way between the two bat 
points referred to, in the lower Sobat region : 

"In no place are the trees large. All — or nearly all 
— are a variety of the acacia. They do not grow very 
close together, nor is there the thick undergrowth that 
the pictures in our old geographies led me to expect. 
You know the sort I mean — those large trees covered 
with vines, and monkeys making a bridge on which to 
cross over rivers, with an immense snake hanging from 
at least one of the trees. Now I do not know that 



Along the So- 



30 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

there are no such scenes in some parts of Africa, but I 
do say they are not in this part. I have sometimes heard 
officials and others talk about 'timber,' but in Ohio we 
would call it brush, or where the trees grew close to- 
gether we might call it a thicket. Indeed it looks a good 
deal like a wild plum thicket. Just around where we 
ate our lunch the trees reminded us of an old apple 
orchard where about one half of the trees had died 
away, or some olive orchards I have seen in Italy. But 
the grass is in no way disappointing. It grows tall and 
rank everywhere." — Mrs. Giffen. 

varying Fea- Speaking generally, there are five different 
tures. sorts of country in the Egyptian Sudan. There 

is the desert region to the northwest and north, 
which takes in the greater part of the Provinces 
of Haifa, Dongola, and Berber, with the excep- 
tion of course of the cultivable land along the 
river. Just south of this desert region and to 
the west of the White Nile, is a country com- 
monly described as steppes and barren land. 
The great Province of Kordofan and the Sultan- 
ate of Darfur represent a region of this sort, save 
for a large number of cultivable areas which 
stand out like oases in contrast with the rest of 
the country. To the east of the Nile and north- 
ward to the Red Sea, including the Provinces of 
the Red Sea, of Kassala, of Sennar, and portions 
of the Blue and White Nile Provinces, there is 
what may be designated grazing land. The 
country in the southern Provinces of Bahr el 
Ghazal, Mongalla and Upper Nile (which in- 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS. 3 1 

eludes the Sobat region), is well described as 
prairie and open forest. Finally, and most im- 
portant, there are the cultivable lands; these 
areas dot the Kordofan Province and Darfur, 
and, for the most part, fringe the Nile and its 
tributaries. 

These variations in the character of the coun- Effect on Peo _ 
try in different sections, make for important dif- ple - 
ferences in the character of the peoples inhabiting 
these regions, as we shall see in a later chapter. 
Their occupations, their customs, their physical, 
their intellectual and even their religious traits 
differ according to the areas in which they live. 

It is remarkable that in all this region of Af- 
rica, which is designated the Egyptian Sudan, JJS? ° n Mis " 
there are no great elevations. Most of the coun- 
try lies at an elevation of from 500 to 1,500 feet 
above the sea level, and the rest ranges from 
1,500 to 3,000, as at Erkoweit, a hill station on 
the Suakin-Berber railroad. To be sure, there 
are the Abyssinian mountains to the east and the 
high peak of Ruwenzori to the south, but these 
are beyond the boundary lines and do not belong 
to the Egyptian Sudan. Furthermore, there is 
as yet no means of communication leading to 
these more elevated regions. A serious mission- 
ary problem results from these conditions. In 
India it is possible for the missionary to escape 
the debilitating effects of a difficult climate or 
to counteract their evil influence by withdrawal 



32 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Problems. 



Climate. 



for at least a month to the mountains of Northern 
or of Central India. In Egypt, the Mediterran- 
ean seashore affords a large measure of relief 
from the furnace-like heat of Upper Egypt. But 
what will the missionary to the Sudan do both 
to keep himself "fit" and to safeguard the health 
of his family? In missionary service as in mili- 
tary service, to become "run down" is the poorest 
economy imaginable. Will he journey to Egypt, 
a distance of some 1,650 miles from Khartum or 
some 2,150 miles from the Sobat region? And in 
Egypt will he find a change of climate sufficient 
to reinvigorate him, physically ? Or will he go to 
the hill station of Erkoweit ? Here is relief from 
both moisture and heat, but with only a limited 
tonic value and as yet but little social fellow- 
ship for which the missionary craves, even more 
than he does for physical recuperation, after his 
long and dreary stay in an isolated mission sta- 
tion. 

In describing climatic and other conditions in 
the Egyptian Sudan, it will be sufficient for gen- 
eral purposes to describe conditions in and about 
Khartum, which will be fairly typical for North- 
ern Sudan, and then conditions on the Sobat 
which may be fairly representative of Southern 
Sudan. 

In the extreme north, there is scarcely any 
rain, but as you approach the sea or the Abys- 
sinian hills and as you move southward, the 




From Frye's Geography. Per. Ginn & Co., Pub. 

Relief Map of Northeastern Africa. 
Showing rivers, lakes and mountain ranges of the Egyptian Sudan. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 33 

rains increase and produce a damp climate for 
two or three months. The rainy season at Khar- 
tum lasts from the middle of June to September, 
but after all the rainfall is very slight. 1 On the 
Sobat the rainy season lasts from June to the end 
of October. 2 The hot weather in Khartum 
reaches its greatest intensity in May, June and 
July, the maximum temperature in the shade be- 
ing from no to 1 1 5° Fahrenheit. During the 
year ending with June, 191 1, there was only one 
month (December) in which a maximum temper- 
ature of over ioo° failed to be recorded at some 
time during the month. It is to foe remembered, 
however, that the dryness of the climate goes far 
to reduce discomfort caused by such heat. On 
the Sobat, the rainfall is much higher, but the 
thermometer registers no such extreme heat as at 
Khartum. 

The natural resources of the Sudan as ex- 
ploited at present consist chiefly in the forests 
of Kordofan and the Blue Nile, which produce 
gum, ebony, furniture woods and fibre; and in 
those of the Bahr el Ghazal, which produce india 
rubber, gutta-percha, etc. ; and in the products of 
animals, such as ivory, ostrich feathers, rhinoc- 
eros horns, skins, etc. There is doubtless the great- 
est amount of waste in the exploiting of even these 
few natural resources. For example, the writer 

1 See Appendix III. 
'See Appendix IV. 



Heat. 



Natural Prod- 
ucts. 



Agriculture. 



34 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

was told by an ostrich feather dealer at Om- 
durman, that the common practise in securing 
feathers is to shoot down wild ostriches, instead 
of attempting to establish ostrich farms, where a 
constant supply could be derived from the same 
birds. What the mineral resources of the Egyp- 
tian Sudan are, future surveys must reveal, but 
iron and even gold are known to exist in limited 
quantities in the western provinces. Unless 
Western governments discover some way of con- 
trolling abuses in the exploitation of Oriental 
labor, it is to be hoped that no great discoveries 
of mineral wealth in the country will precipitate 
upon the Egyptian Sudan some of the serious la- 
bor problems affecting to-day other sections of 
Africa. 

Apart from what is resulting from the Govern- 
ment's efforts to encourage agriculture, agricul- 
tural activities in the Sudan have been conspicu- 
ously limited. Only the country lying close to 
the Nile and its tributaries, is commonly under 
cultivation, and this merely for the people's own 
needs. Progress, however, is being made in 
Northern Sudan along these lines, and while 
704,872 feddans x were reported under cultiva- 
tion in 1905, the report for 1910 announced 
1,953,200 feddans. The principal crops are durra 
(a species of millet), beans, lentils, tobacco, se- 
same, onions, melons, and some wheat and bar- 

*A feddan is 1.038 of an acre. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 35 

ley. The Province of Dongola is famous for the 
quality and quantity of its dates. The three lead- 
ing items of export trade in 1910 were: durra, 
48,354 tons; gum, 14,082 tons; and sesame, 
5,647 tons. Very earnest efforts are being put 
forth to persuade the people of the Sudan to grow 
cotton, this being a great source of wealth in 
Egypt, but disinclination to work, and also ignor- 
ance of the proper methods of work have pre- 
vented any large or good results in this direction. 
To the ordinary tourist, it would seem that cat- 
tle raising was the chief occupation of the Su- 
danese, and indeed immense herds of sheep, goats 
and cattle are to be seen along the Nile, and es- 
pecially throughout the Upper Nile Province and 
the Sobat Region. A special emphasis is laid 
upon cattle raising among the pagans of this re- 
gion by the fact that possession of cattle is their 
only means of obtaining wives. 

To describe the animal life of the Sudan would Animal Life. 
require an entire volume and whole pages of 
technical names which would mean little to the 
ordinary reader. Yet one should observe the 
wonderful richness of game and great variety of 
animal life to be encountered in the Sudan. As 
your train moves southward from Egypt to the 
Sudan, you look out of the car window and get 
glimpses again ajid again of gazelle scurrying 
through the mimosa brush. Your book will tell 
you that ariel and ibex, cony and wild sheep, 



36 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



River Scenes. 



Snakes. 



hyena and leopard, are to be found also in this 
region. But it is in Southern Sudan that you 
find the greatest abundance of game. As your 
noisy stern wheeler splashes its way up the Nile, 
the common diversion of the tourist is to stay on 
deck and watch the sandbanks for crocodiles and 
then to shoot, if, perchance, he may really hit or 
kill them and thus rid the Nile of these pests. 
Again and again, black spots in some untroubled 
waters ahead are pointed out to you as hippo- 
potami; but before you get a good look at them 
they are gone. At some way station a hunter 
comes on board with his trophies — an elephant's 
ear, ivory tusks, buffalo hides. Again your book 
tells you that there are in this region (the Upper 
Sobat) elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, zebra, roan 
antelope, waterbuck, Mrs. Gray's waterbuck, 
white eared cob, Uganda cob, bushbuck, reed- 
buck, Jackson's hartbeest, tiang, lion, leopard, and 
giraffe. One herd of eighty giraffe is recorded. 
The Sobat missionaries have also placed on 
record a good many interesting stories of en- 
counters with snakes. The natives point out 
three kinds. "If one of a certain kind," they say, 
"bites you, you will probably die. You may get 
well, but you will be very ill and most likely will 
die. If another kind bites you, you will surely 
die. You may live over night, but you will never 
get well. If you are bitten by the third kind, 
they bury you right where you stand." About 




Sandy Desert Land in Northern Sudan. 
Grass Covered Prairie Land in Southern Sudan. 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 2)7 

a hundred of the poisonous varieties were killed 
in or about the mission residences each wet sea- 
son during the early years of the Mission. The 
following story is well worth repeating, although 
it has become familiar to many through reading 
Dr. J. K. Giffen's "The Egyptian Sudan" : 

"But to the cooking of our crane hangs a tale, the « A snake 
very thought of which makes me feel sick. The bird Story." 
was large, and I needed a platter on which to serve it. 
Now, our cupboard room is somewhat scarce, and such 
dishes as are not in constant use are packed away in a 
box in our pantry. 

"When dinner was ready, I went to get the platter 
for my bird. As the plate was bottomside up, I had to 
slip my fingers well under to raise it; as I lifted it out 
of the box I don't know whether it was motion or sound 
that attracted my attention — there being no window in 
that end of the room, it was rather dark — but some- 
thing made me peer into the empty space which the 
meat plate had covered, to find it not empty, but full of 
snake, and an ugly big head rising up at me. 

"I shrieked. Abbas (the black boy) was in the kitch- 
en and came on a run, picking up an axe on the way. 
Abbas is wiser than the rest of us concerning snakes. 
As soon as he saw what he had to deal with, he caught 
the head of the creature between the axe and the pile 
of plates ; that is, he meant to catch the head, but in real- 
ity caught it about six or eight inches back of the head. 
Having it thus he could not kill it, but could hold it. 
When I started back — for I had put some yards between 
me and the snake — Abbas said, 'Keep away and call some 
of the men.' Just then Dr. McLaughlin, who had heard 
my excited tones, called across, 'What's up, Mrs. Giff en ?■' 



38 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

I answered, 'A snake — come quick!' The doctor came, 
smiling, knowing my terror of snakes. He did not ex- 
pect to see much, although I was telling him, It is a 
big one.' Abbas said, 'Bring a club,' but the doctor, 
after getting a glimpse, wanted to see more of it. 
Abbas said, 'Take care of your face ! It will spit !' But 
the doctor either did not hear or did not comprehend. 
The next thing I saw was the doctor covering his eyes 
with his hands, and I heard him say, 'Give me your 
apron, quick!' I did so, and he wiped his face, then 
said, 'Give me water, quick!' Leaving Abbas and the 
snake to manage their own affairs, I began to help the 
doctor. The snake had not bitten him, but had thrown 
venom into his eyes. His face at the time was about 
two yards from the snake, but it struck him fairly in the 
eyes, — the doctor says, 'with the force of a good strong 
syringe.' The natives said, 'The doctor's eyes are fin- 
ished. He will never see again.' And I have little doubt 
that with one of them it would have been so. But we did 
everything we could, and that at once. The eyes were 
bathed and anointed with sweet cream. This gave but 
little relief, but a strong solution of soda brought relief. 
The eyes were very red and sore for a time and the 
sight blurred and dim, but not permanently injured. 
The snake killed and carried out, and the doctor's eyes 
made as comfortable a? possible, we turned our atten- 
tion to dinner again. After dinner was over, Mr. Giffen 
examined the reptile. It was five feet long and eight 
inches in circumference in the thickest place, and tapered 
but little. He could find no fangs at all, but where the 
point of the tongue should have been there was a small 
tube-like arrangement, about three-quarters of an inch 
in length, and as thick as an ordinary lead pencil. At 
the end of this was an opening. From this, no doubt, 
it throws the venom. While killing it, Mr. Giffen saw it 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 39 

throw the venom. To do this it swelled out its neck 
until it was as broad as his hand." 

It is only fair to add that such experiences be- 
come quite rare after a station has become well 
established and the land about has been brought 
under cultivation. 

The bird life of Southern Sudan is calculated Birds, 
to excite the greatest wonder. As the steamer 
moves southward, little islands will be seen cov- 
ered with white egrets, suggesting in the distance 
(if the weather permitted it) the remnant of 
some snow drift. Beautiful golden-crested 
cranes, repulsive maribou storks, reed-birds fly- 
ing in myriads and giving the impression of a 
flight of locusts, vultures, hawks, owls, pelicans, 
ibises, spoonbills, and quail, — these, and hun- 
dreds of other varieties give a new meaning and 
a vivid literalism to the description of the Sudan 
by Isaiah: 

"Ah, the land of the rustling of wings which 
is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; that sendeth 
ambassadors by the sea (bahr, same word for 
river), even in vessels of papyrus upon the wat- 
ers." 

"Almost the only large white spot now re- 
maining unexplored in the Nile basin," writes 
Sir Harry Johnston in 1903, "is the district oc- 
cupied by Nilotic Negroes (Dinka, Nuer, Shil- 
luk) lying between the Sobat River on the north- 



4-0 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

east and the main White Nile on the west and 
southwest." Since that time, military expeditions 
and exploration parties have added at least some- 
what to our knowledge of that section of the Su- 
dan. Of course, it is to be recognized that the 
statement quoted above is to be taken in a very 
broad and general sense. But if its correctness 
be admitted at all, the further statement may 
now be made, that for the Egyptian Sudan the 
work of map making has now been completed in 
broad outline at least. Few will appreciate how 
great a task a modern map of the Egyptian Sudan 
represents. Fewer still are acquainted with that 

ion! 7 Explora " long list of explorers, soldiers, traders, and ad- 
venturers who helped to make this map, many of 
them willingly, others begrudgingly, sacrificing 
life itself in the effort. 

And the map of the Egyptian Sudan has been 
2,500 years in the making. In 611 B. C, Neku, 
the son of Psametik I, succeeded to the throne of 
Egypt. He commanded his allies, the Phoenici- 
ans, to send an expedition to sail down the Red 
Sea and along the coast to the land of Punt. Ac- 
cording to tradition, this expedition circled the 

Herodotus. entire Continent In ^ B ^ Herodotus, the 

father of history, went up the Nile as far as the 
First Cataract and collected much information 
concerning the far-stretching land of Ethiopia to 
the south. Some seventy years later, the phil- 
osopher Aristotle, recorded the news of Pygmy 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 41 

races to the southwest of the Nile. In 274 B. C, 
Eratosthenes, a Greek philosopher, librarian at 
Alexandria, sketched for the first known time 
and with fair accuracy the course of the Nile, in- 
dicating its Abyssinian tributaries. And does 
not a reading of Isaiah's vivid description of the 
physical characteristics of the Sudan in his "Bur- 
den of Ethiopia" (chapter xviii), suggest that 
with his own eyes or with the eyes of some Ptolemy - 
friend, he informed himself as to that wonderful 
land. But it is Ptolemy (more accurately Clau- 
dius Ptolemaeus), Greek-Egyptian, who is cred- 
ited with the first clear indication of the lake 
sources and of the separate lake sources of the 
two branches of the Nile, adding hints as to the 
existence of twin lakes and great snowy ranges 
called the Mountains of the Moon. "Though not 
an explorer," says Sir Harry Johnston, "Ptolemy 
stands (for his age) in the highest rank of Nile 
geographers; but he had to wait something like 
seventeen hundred and forty years before Sir 
Henry Stanley, by his discovery of the Semliki, 
the Ruwenzori snow-range, and the last prob- 
lems of the Nile sources, did justice to that re- 
markable foreshadowing of the main features of 
the Nile system due to the genius of the Alex- 
andrian geographer." What he contributed 
set the high water mark of geographical knowl- 
edge of the Nile watershed for almost 1,800 
years. 




From "The Nile Quest," Per F. A. Stokes Co. 



THE COURSE OF THE NILE ACCORDING TO PTOLEMY. 



From the oldest version of Ptolemy's Maps, in 
930 A. D., preserved in the Mount Athos Monastery. 



existence about 



THE LAND OF THE BLACKS 43 

Thus we come down to modern times and the In Mod e rn 
great period of African exploration. It is not Times - 
possible to do more than mention names, nor 
will the list be complete. There are, however, the 
notable Bruce (1770) and the youthful Browne 
(1791); Burckhardt (1812) and Thibaut 
(1839); Petherick (1845) and Peney (1861) ; 
Baker (1864) and Schweinfurth (1868) who 
contributed so richly not merely to geography, 
but to botany <- nd zoology also ; and a great host 
of others, traders, explorers and government of- 
ficials, who surveyed areas large and small in 
the Egyptian Sudan. 

"In 1839 or 1840 one of the most important 
affluents of the Nile was discovered by the ex- 
pedition of Turks and Europeans dispatched by 
Mohammed Ali to explore the White Nile. This 
was the Sobat (as it was named by the Nile 
Arabs), which enters the White River under the 
ninth degree of latitude. The word Sobat was The sobat. 
evidently an ancient Nubian or Ethiopian term 
which was in existence two thousand years ago, 
when it was applied to the White Nile (Asta 
Sobas), in contradiction to the Blue Nile (Ast'- 
apos). At the present day the Sobat is known 
by the name of Kir on its lower portion, and 
Baro on its upper course." 

It is solemnizing to remember what a price has 
been paid in human lives for the information 
which our modern map of the Egyptian Sudan 



44 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

presents. It is also sobering to remember that as 
yet more lives have been enlisted in geographical 
exploration than in missions in the Egyptian Su- 
what Next? dan. As yet more lives have been wholly sacri- 
ficed to this map-making than have been poured 
out upon the altar of missionary service in the 
Sudan. But these two undertakings, that of ex- 
ploration and that of missions, must not be set 
over against each other. David Livingstone, the 
explorer and missionary, was right when he 
wrote : "I view the end of the geographical feat 
as the beginning of the missionary enterprise." 
The geographical feat has been brought to a sat- 
isfying conclusion in the Egyptian Sudan. It is 
time for the Church of Christ to launch in a 
worthy way and on an adequate scale the mis- 
sionary enterprise that will win the land for 
Christ. 

"The strings of camels come in single file, 
Bearing their burdens o'er the desert sand ; 

Swiftly the boats go plying on the Nile, 
The needs of men are met on every hand, 

But still I wait 

For the messenger of God who cometh late." 



CHAPTER II 



A Sorrowful Past 



"More has been learned of Africa in the past fifty 
years than has been known before since the Creation, 
The world has been both entranced and appalled as its 
enormous interior populations have come to light, and 
its natural mysteries have been disclosed, its gigantic 
problems revealed, its colossal woes uncovered, its pit- 
eous story of suffering and wrong recited, and the irre- 
sistible appeal of a sorrow-stricken, world-forgotten 
continent has been unfolded in current literature." 

— James S. Dennis. 



The East and West, without a breath, 
Mix their dim lights like life and death 
To broaden into boundless day." 

— Lord Tennyson. 



II 

A SORROWFUL PAST 

THE first historical mention of the land 
south of Egypt carries us back some 
5,900 years, to the days of Snefru, 
who is said to have conquered the land 
of the Negroes and to have taken captive 7,200 
men and women and 200,000 head of cattle. The 
next mention, six hundred years later, refers to 
an expedition to the "Land of the Ghosts, which is 
south of the land of the Negroes." As years pass, 
the protection of the southern boundary of Egypt 
becomes increasingly a cause of anxiety to the 
kings of Egypt. Finally, about 1400 B. C, Na- 
pata is founded and becomes the far-famed capital 
of an Ethiopian kingdom. Some six hundred 
years later, during a period of national decay in 
Egypt, the Ethiopian hosts sweep northward, and 
all of Egypt, save a small section of the Delta, be- 
comes a province of the Ethiopian kingdom, or at 
least Ethiopia provides the reigning dynasty of 
Egypt. After that, we see Napata give way to 
Meroe as the capital and religious center ; and the 
history of this land becomes shrouded in mystery. 

47 



History B. C. 



48 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN. 

christian Era. Here and there between Egypt and Khartum 
and even a short distance south of Khartum, there 
are to »be found ruins bearing Christian symbols 
and inscriptions. These remind us that during the 
fifth century, A. D., Christianity entered Nubia 
and conquered it, and it is thought that about 560 
A. D. Christianity was the established religion of 
Nubia and Ethiopia. Of course, it is a matter of 
conjecture how far south the term "Ethiopia" may 
be said to carry us. In 1092 A. D., there were 
powerful Christian kingdoms in these regions, for 
whose authority the Moslem conquerors of Egypt 
had a wholesome regard. It is interesting and yet 
saddening and sobering, to reflect that at one 
time Northern Sudan was nominally Christian. 
Why was the Christian torch extinguished ? Per- 
haps we may understand in part if we study the 
type of Christianity which survives to-day in 
Abyssinia. 

Moslem En- The * ast s * x hundred years have witnessed the 

irregular yet unfailing encroachments of Islam 
and Arab civilization upon Sudanese life and ter- 
ritory, until now the whole of Northern Sudan is 
claimed by Islam, has succumbed to an Arab civ- 
ilization, and has to a great degree adopted the 
Arabic language. 

Such superficial references to almost six mil- 
lenniums of history can be justified only by the 
fact that, after all, this Land of the Blacks has 
not enjoyed any really connected development 



trance. 



A SORROWFUL PAST 49 

throughout this long period. Furthermore, the 
historical records of what actually took place are 
most meager. And, finally, it may be pointed out 
that if the chief interest of this study centers in 
the present-day races of the Sudan and in their 
condition, only those facts of history need be con- 
sidered that relate themselves vitally to present- 
day conditions. It is chiefly the events of the past 
hundred years that have determined the character 
of the present situation. So overwhelming, so 
far-reaching has been the influence of the past 
century, that it may be said to outweigh the influ- 
ences of entire millenniums and to have engulfed 
almost all that went before. A fairly accurate ac- 
quaintance with the history of the Sudan during 
the nineteenth century, and especially during the 
latter half of that period, is therefore necessary to 
a proper appreciation of existing conditions. 

Egypt Annexes the Sudan. 

One hundred years ago, the governor of Egypt, Egyptij 
one of the choicest provinces of the Ottoman Em- Rule ' 
pire, was Mohammed Ali, a remarkable person- 
ality, an alert mind, a military genius, a capable 
administrator. He it was who wrested Egypt in 
part from the Sultan, claimed it for himself and 
for his family as an independent kingdom, save 
for an annual tribute, and thus established the 
line of khedivial rulers in the Valley of the Nile. 
He it was also who looked with covetous eyes 



50 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

southward and extended the authority of Egypt 
to the Sudan. His motive was in part political 
ambition, in part a search for gold mines reported 
to be in the Sudan, and in part, perhaps, an hon- 
Egypt. est by est desire to bring into a more settled and civilized 
state its ever- warring petty kingdoms and tribes. 
That year, 1819, marked the beginning of a move- 
ment by which Egyptian arms and strategy grad- 
ually carried the Egyptian flag steadily south- 
ward. At first the movement of conquest 
and annexation followed the Nile, for the 
Egyptian, whether soldier or trader, was 
afraid of the "man-eating" desert on either side 
of the river in Northern Sudan. But cupidity 
and greed soon turned the movement westward 
toward the rich settlements of Kordofan. At 
times the tide of conquest was arrested by the 
courageous resistance of some more powerful 
Sudanese kingdom, such as that of Darfur; but 
in the end, the Crescent and the Star were carried 
forward, the wealth of the conquered tribes in- 
creased the private fortunes of those sent to gov- 
ern and extend the Egyptian Sudan, and the land 
became a part of Egypt's southernmost prov- 
ince. At last the Egyptian flag reached to with- 
in two degrees of the Equator, and there were 
none to define the limits of authority east or west. 

Rise of Slave Trade. 

It is almost needless to say that the govern- 



A SORROWFUL PAST 5 1 

ment of the Sudan Province by Egypt was no 
model of justice, kindness or efficiency. Gover- 
nors were appointed at Cairo, 1,500 miles away, 
and he was considered the most successful gov- 
ernor who caused the greatest revenue to fill, slave Trade - 
first of all, his own coffers and then to overflow 
into the treasury of Egypt. Trade chiefly con- 
sisted in gum, ostrich feathers, hides and ivory. 
It was not long, however, before the trader dis- 
covered that the largest returns were to he had 
not from white ivory, hut from black ivory 
(slaves). Thus the slave trade sprang up and 
flourished. The Government leased out to trad- 
ers vast areas, — sometimes areas that had never 
yet been annexed, conquered or explored, — to be 
exploited presumably for ivory. This meant in 
practice that within these areas the trader could 
carry on, without let or hindrance, his nefarious 
traffic in slaves. The Government, of course, 
would find a way to levy taxes on the slaves as 
they were driven to the seaboard. In 1861, Sir 
Samuel Baker journeyed through these regions 
of Southern Sudan, hoping to join hands with 
the great explorers, Grant and Speke, in the dis- 
covery of the sources of the White Nile. On that 
trip and during subsequent service in the Sudan, 
he had abundant opportunity to note the utter 
demoralization of the country by the slave trade. 
How was the slave trade carried on ? Just how 
was slave raiding accomplished ? What were the 



the Trade. 



52 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

profits which maintained this awful traffic ? Who 
might be held responsible for such conditions? 
Why was it a difficult thing to stamp out both 
slave trading and slave raiding? These and 
other questions are answered by him in a clear 
and comprehensive account which he gives of the 
whole process and which may well be quoted in 
full: 



"The amount of ivory brought down from the 
TheJHow of White Nile is a mere bagatelle as an export, the annual 
value being £40,000 ($200,000). The people for the 
most part engaged in the nefarious traffic of the White 
Nile are Syrians, Copts, Turks, Circassians, and some 
few Europeans. So closely connected with the diffi- 
culties of my expedition is that accursed slave trade, 
that the so-called ivory trade of the White Nile re- 
quires an explanation. 

"Throughout the Sudan, money is exceedingly 
scarce, and the rate of interest exorbitant, varying, ac- 
cording to the securities, from thirty-six to eighty per 
cent. ; this fact proves general poverty and dishonesty, 
and acts as a preventive to all improvement. So high 
and fatal a rate deters all honest enterprise, and the 
country must lie in ruin under such a system. The wild 
speculator borrows upon such terms, to rise suddenly 
like a rocket, or to fall like its exhausted stick. 

"Thus, honest enterprise being impossible, dishon- 
esty takes the lead, and a successful expedition to the 
White Nile is supposed to overcome all charges. There 
are two classes of White Nile traders — the one pos- 
sessing capital, the other being penniless adventurers; 
the same system of operation is pursued by both, but 




* ■ 







1 I 



c 
o 

~0 



Organization. 



A SORROWFUL PAST 53 

that of the former will be evident from the description 
of the latter. 

"A man without means forms an expedition, and 
borrows money for this purpose at one hundred per 
cent, after this fashion; he agrees to pay the lender in 
ivory, at one half its market value. Having obtained 
the required sum he hires several vessels, and engages 
from one hundred to three hundred men composed of 
Arabs and runaway villains from distant, countries, 
who have found an asylum from justice in the obscur- 
ity of Khartum. He purchases guns and large quanti- 
ties of ammunition for his men, together with a few 
hundred pounds of glass beads. The piratical expedi- 
tion being complete, he pays his men five months' wages 
in advance, at the rate of forty-five piasters ($2.25) 
per month, and agrees to give them eighty piasters per 
month for any period exceeding the five months ad- 
vanced. His men receive their advance partly in cash 
and partly in cotton stuffs for clothes, at an exorbitant 
price. Every man has a strip of paper, upon which is 
written, by the clerk of the expedition, the amount he 
has received, both in goods and money; and this paper 
he must produce at the final settlement. 

"The vessels sail about December, and on arrival 
at the desired locality, the party disembark and proceed 
into the interior, until they arrive at the village of somp Guests, 
negro chief, with whom they establish an intimacy. 
Charmed with his new friends, the power of whose 
weapons he acknowledges, the negro chief does not neg- 
lect the opportunity of seeking their alliance to attack a 
hostile neighbor. Marching throughout the night, guid- 
ed by their negro hosts, they bivouac within an hour's 
march of the unsuspecting village doomed to an attack, 
about half an hour before the break of day. The time 
arrives, and quietly surrounding the village while its 
occupants are still sleeping, they fire the grass huts in 



54 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

all directions, and pour volleys of musketry through the 
naming thatch. Panic-stricken, the unfortunate victims 
rush from their burning dwellings, and the men are 
shot down like pheasants in a battue, while the women 
and children, bewildered in the danger and confusion, 
are kidnapped and secured. The herds of cattle, still 
within their kraal, or 'zareeba,' are easily disposed of, 
The ''Open an( j are driven off with great rejoicing as the prize of 
victory. The women and children are then fastened to- 
gether, the former secured by an instrument called a 
'sheba,' made of a forked pole, the neck of the prisoner 
fitting into the fork, secured by a cross-piece lashed be- 
hind, while the wrists, brought together in advance of 
the body, are tied to the pole. The children are then 
fastened by their necks with a rope attached to the wo- 
men, and thus form a living chain, in which order they 
are marched to the headquarters in company with the 
captured herds. 

"This is the commencement of business ; should there 
be ivory in any of the huts not destroyed by the fire, 
it is appropriated ; a general plunder takes place. The 
trader's party dig up the floors of the huts to search 
for iron hoes, which are generally thus concealed, as 
the greatest treasure of the negroes; the granaries are 
overturned and wantonly destroyed, and the hands are 
cut off the bodies of the slain, the more easily to detach 
the copper or iron bracelets that are usually worn. With 
this booty, the traders return to their negro ally; they 
have thrashed and discomfited his enemy, which delights 
him ; they present him with thirty or forty head of cat- 
tle, which intoxicates him with joy; and a present of a 
pretty little captive girl, of about fourteen, completes his 
happiness. 

"But business is only commenced. The negro cov- 
ets cattle, and the trader has now captured, perhaps, 
two thousand head. They are to be had for ivory, and 



A SORROWFUL PAST 55 

shortly the tusks appear. Ivory is daily brought into 
camp in exchange for cattle, a tusk for a cow, accord- 
ing to its size — a profitable business, as the cows have 
cost nothing. The trade proves brisk, but still there re- 
main some little customs to be observed, — some slight 
formalities, well understood by the White Nile trade. 
The slaves and two thirds of the captured cattle belong 
to the trader, but his men claim as their perquisite, one 
third of the stolen animals. These having been divided, 
the slaves are put up to public auction among the men, 
who purchase such as they require ; the amount being en- 
tered on the papers (serki) of the purchasers, to be reck- spoils, 
oned against their wages. To avoid the exposure should 
the document fall into the hands of the Government or 
European consuls, the amount is not entered as for the 
purchase of a slave, but is divided for fictitious supplies. 
Thus, should a slave be purchased for one thousand 
piasters, that amount would appear on the document 
somewhat as follows : 

Soap 50 Piasters ($ 2.50) 

Tarboush (Cap) . 100 " ($ 5.00) 

Araki 500 " ($25.00) 

Shoes 200 " ($10.00) 

Cotton Cloth 150 " ($ 7.50) 

1000 " ($50.00) 

"The slaves sold to the men are constantly being 
changed and re-sold among themselves ; but should the 
relatives of the kidnapped women and children wish to 
ransom them, the trader takes them from his men, can- 
cels the amount of purchase, and restores them to their 
relatives for a certain number of elephants' tusks, as 
may be agreed upon. Should any slave attempt to es- 
cape, she is punished either by brutal flogging, or shot, 



50 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

or hanged, as a warning to others. An attack, or raz- 
zia, such as described, generally leads to a quarrel with 
the negro ally, who, in his turn, is murdered and plun- 
dered by the trader — his women and children naturally 
becoming slaves. A good season for a party of a hun- 
dred and fifty men should produce about two hundred 
cantars (twenty thousand pounds) of ivory, valued in 
Khartum at four thousand pounds. 

"The men being paid in slaves, the wages should be 
nil, and there should be a surplus of four or five hun- 
dred slaves for the trader's own profit — worth, on an 
average, five to six pounds each. 

"The boats are accordingly packed with a human 
cargo, and a portion of the trader's men accompany 
Becomes a them to the Sudan, while the remainder of the party 

Business. form a camp or settlement in the country they have 

adopted, and industriously plunder, massacre, and en- 
slave, until their master's return with boats from Khar- 
tum in the following season, by which time they are 
supposed to have a cargo of slaves and ivory ready for 
shipment. The business thus thoroughly established, 
the slaves are landed at various points within a few 
days' journey of Khartum, at which places are agents, 
or purchasers, waiting to receive them with dollars pre- 
pared for cash payments. 

"The purchasers and dealers are, for the most part, 
Arabs. The slaves are marched across the country to 
different places ; many to Sennar, where they are sold 
to other dealers, who sell them to the Arabs and Turks. 
Others are taken immense distances to ports on the Red 
Sea — Suakin, and Massawa — 'there to be shipped to 
Arabia and Persia. Many are sent to Cairo ; and, in 
fact, they are disseminated throughout the slave-dealing 
east, the White Nile being the great nursery for the 
supply. The amiable trader returns from the White 
Nile to Khartum- hands over to his creditor sufficient 



A SORROWFUL PAST 57 

ivory to liquidate the original loan of ii,ooo ($5,000) ; 
and already a man of capital, he commences as an in- 
dependent trader." 

In 1863, there came to the khedivial throne in 
Egypt one whose ambitious schemes made him 
well known in Europe and plunged Egypt into 
enormous national debt, — Ismail Pasha. He vis- 
ited Europe and England, and was extremely 
sensitive to what the civilized nations thought of 
him, for he desired to have his Government count- 

, « ,. , , ~ r 1 • Reforms Begin. 

ed among the enlightened Governments of his 
time. Detailed reports of conditions in the Su- 
dan were constantly appearing in print, and the 
shame and disgrace of any connection with slav- 
ery had already been emphasized by the long anti- 
slavery agitations in Great Britain. Ismail 
Pasha could not fail to observe that the price of 
a good international reputation involved the sup- 
pression of the slave trade in the Sudan. Ac- 
cordingly, orders for the suppression of the slave 
trade were issued, and Sir Samuel Baker himself 
was commissioned both to execute these orders 
and to establish in the Sudan what might at least 
approximate a good and efficient government. In 
1873, Sir Samuel Baker retired, having accom- 
plished much, and Gordon (then Colonel) was 
invited by the Khedive to carry forward the work 
so well begun. 



58 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

General Charles G. Gordon. 

It is no undue exaltation of an interesting and 
great personality that injects into the narrative of 
events in the Sudan, what may seem like a bio- 
graphical digression. Few are the communities 
in the English-speaking world that have not at 
least heard of "Chinese" Gordon. Many are the 
lives, especially the young lives, that have been 
stirred and quickened to higher ideals by Gor- 
don's career. Even if the re-conquest of the 
Gordon. Sudan was inevitable after the Mahdi Rebellion, 

it may be said that no motive operated so pow- 
erfully upon British hearts and lives, releasing for 
this task British resources of life and money, 
as the memory of Gordon's martyrdom at Khar- 
tum. In the Sudan, Gordon's name is a name to 
conjure with; at one time, speaking with a vet- 
eran Arab in the market-place of Omdurman, 
one who had been all through the experiences of 
the Mahdi Rebellion, the writer put to him the 
question, "And Gordon, what did you think of 
him?" "Ah," came the reply with evidently sup- 
pressed feeling, "there was no man like him !" In 
the open square back of the palace at Khartum, is 
a statue done in bronze, of Gordon on camel back. 
They have set him there not looking toward the 
north where lay his own native land, but toward 
the south, the Land of the Blacks, — the land of 



A SORROWFUL PAST 59 

the people he loved and for whom he was willing 
to lay down life itself. 

First, let us get a picture of the man's physical 
appearance. "In Colonel Gordon's appearance," 
writes Mr. W. E. Lilley, "there was nothing par- 
ticularly striking. Hie was rather under the av- Traits C . al 
erage height; of slight proportions, and with lit- 
tle of the military bearing in his carriage. . . . 
The greatest characteristic of his countenance 
was the clear blue eye, which seemed to have a 
magical power over all who came within its in- 
fluence. It read you through and through; it 
made it impossible for you to tell him anything 
but the truth, it inspired your confidence, it kin- 
dled with compassion at any story of distress, and 
it sparkled with good humor at anything really 
funny or witty. From its glance you knew at 
once that at any risk he would keep his promise, 
that you might trust him with anything and ev- 
erything, and that he would stand by you if all 
other friends deserted you." 

Before coming to the Sudan, Gordon had won 
an international reputation by his remarkable 
achievements in suppressing the Taiping Rebel- 
lion in China and by his leadership of the famous 
"Ever- Victorious Army." 

In entering the service of the Khedive, Gor- 
don was assigned a three-fold task: to establish "Governor of 

° the Equator." 

an efficient government in the Sudan, to carry 
forward the work of exploration, and to suppress 



60 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

the slave trade. His appointment, however, made 
him Governor-General only of the Equatorial 
Provinces with headquarters at Gondokoro. Gor- 
don was at a serious disadvantage in that his au- 
thority extended over only a portion of the Su- 
dan, when the problems of government and of the 
suppression of the slave trade involved the whole 
of the Sudan. Furthermore, the authority of the 
Egyptian Government in the Equatorial regions 
was a mere fiction. "Beyond the two forts at 
Gondokoro — garrison 300 men — and Fatiko — 
garrison 200 men — the Khedive had no posses- 
sions, and there was not even safety for his rep- 
resentatives half a mile from their guns." 

For interesting side lights both upon the life 
and ideals of the man and upon the conditions and 
problems of his field of work, one must read "Col- 
a Hard Task. ond Gordon in Central Africa," and "Letters of 
Gordon to His Sister." For three long years — 
such years as his in the Sudan are longer than 
the ordinary years of men — Gordon measured his 
strength and skill against tropical disease and fa- 
tigue, against the intrigues and deceptions of slave 
dealers, against the shortcomings of inefficient 
agents and subordinates, against dishonesty, greed 
and cruelty, — and in ninety-nine cases out of a 
hundred he won out. His European staff col- 
lapsed under the terrific climatic strain. Of those 
who went up the river with him in May, 1874, all 
were dead or invalided home in September. He 




Major-General Charles George Gordon. 

"Who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to 
the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the 
suffering, his heart to God." 

Born at Woolwich, 28 Jan., 1833. 

Slain at Khartum, 26 Jan., 1885. 



A SORROWFUL PAST 6l 

found his native agents involved in the slave 
trade ; he caught a native lieutenant letting a slave 
convoy pass in consideration of a 'bribe of $350. 
On this occasion he rescued 1,600 slaves, but al- 
most every journey he took, (and he was always 
making unexpected or forced marches) brought 
him upon the tracks of this foul Dragon — the 
Slave Trade. A few quotations from his letters 
will best picture his life during both his first and 
second terms of service in the Sudan : 

"July 28, 1877. — I have just been out to see the 210 

slaves they captured near here It is a sad 

sight to see the poor little starved creatures looking so 
wistfully at one. What can I do? — I declare solemnly 
that I would give my life willingly to save the suffer- 
ings of these people; and if I would do this, how much 
more does He care for them than such imperfection as 
I am. You would have felt sick had you seen them. 
Poor creatures ! Thirty-six hours without food !" 

"Sept. 28. — When near the end of our long weary 
march, I noticed a very small black boy in the path, 
who would not get out of it. ... I immediately 
suspected something, and on going on I came across a 
lad with a chain of slaves, and I noticed a number more 
chained together under some trees." 

"Sept. 4, 1878. — The sight of these ninety slaves was 
terrible. I did not see them, but a friend of mine says 
that there were few over sixteen years of age — some of 
them had babies, some were little mites of boys and 
girls ! Fancy, they had come over 500 miles of deserts, 
and were a residue of four times their number." 



Letters. 



62 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

"March 24, 1879. — The people of Obeid look very- 
black at me, and every one complains that trade is mined 
by the stopping of the slave trade. It is weary, up-hill 
work." 

"March 31. — This evening a party of seven slave 
dealers with twenty-three slaves were captured and 
brought to me, together with two camels. Nothing 
could exceed the misery of these poor wretches — some 
were children not more than three years old; they had 
come across that torrid zone from Shaka, a journey 
from which I on camel shrink. I got the slave dealers 
chained at once." 

"April 11. — When one thinks of the enormous num- 
ber of slaves which have passed into Egypt from these 
parts in the last few years, one can scarcely conceive 
what has become of them. There must have been 

thousands upon thousands of them We must 

have caught 2,000 in less than nine months, and I expect 
we did not catch one fifth of the caravans. Again, how 
many died en route?" 

"June 18. — Thus in three days, we have caught 400 
slaves. The number of skulls along the road is appall- 
ing." 

In one of his letters, Gordon estimated that in 
iemsT y the Bahr el Ghazal Province alone, the loss of life 

through the slave trade must have amounted to 
25,000 lives annually. Often, too, when slave 
caravans were overtaken, it was a problem what 
to do with the slaves. They might be hundreds of 
miles from their homes. They were usually worn 
out <by their marching. If liberated, they would 



A SORROWFUL PAST 63 

not 'know how to return to their native land, nor 
would they have the strength to do so. To feed 
them was a greater problem still. Meanwhile his 
heart was wrung by their sufferings. 

His tenderness of heart, his human interest in 
those about him, his concern for the most obscure 
sufferer shine out through the quaint philosophy 
with which he views and describes tangled and 
difficult situations. Writing to his own sister he 
says: 

"I took a poor old bag of bones into my camp a 
month ago, and have been feeding her up, but yesterday 
she was quietly taken off, and now knows all things. Gordon' 
She had her tobacco up to the last and died quite 
quietly A wretched sister of yours is strug- 
gling up the road, but she is such a wisp of bones that 
the wind threatens to overthrow her ; so she has halted, 
preferring the rain to being cast down. I have sent her 
some durra, which will produce a spark of joy in her 
black and withered carcass. I told my man to see her 
into one of the huts, and thought he had done so. The 
night was stormy and rainy, and when I awoke I heard 
often a crying of a child near my hut within the en- 
closure. When I got up I went out to see what it was, 
and passing through the gateway, I saw your and my 
sister lying dead in a pool of mud — her black brothers 
had been passing and passing, and had taken no notice 
of her — so I ordered her to be buried, and went on. In 
the midst of the high grass was a baby, about a year or 
so old, left by itself. It had been out all night in the 
rain, and had been left by its mother. I carried it in, 
and seeing the corpse was not moved, I sent again about 
it, and went with the men to have it buried. To my sur- 



64 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

prise and astonishment, she was alive. After consider- 
able trouble I got the black brothers to lift her out of 
the mud, poured some brandy down her throat, and got 
her into a hut with a fire, having the mud washed out of 
her eyes. She was not more than sixteen years of age. 
There she now lies. I cannot help hoping she is float- 
ing down with the tide to the haven of rest. The next 
day she was still alive, and the babe, not yet a year old, 
seized a gourd of milk, and drank it off like a man, and 
is apparently in for the pilgrimage of life. It does not 
seem the worse for its night out, depraved little wretch ! 
, . . . The black sister departed this life at 4 P. M., 
deeply lamented by me, not so by her black brothers, 
who thought her a nuisance. When I went to see her 
this morning, I heard the 'lamentations' of something 
on the other side of the hut. I went round, and found 
another of our species, a visitor of ten or twelve months 
to this globe, lying in a pool of mud. I said, 'Here is 
another foundling!' and had it taken up. Its mother 
came up afterwards, and I mildly expostulated with 
her, remarking, however good it might be for the 
spawn of frogs, it was not good for our species. The 
creature drank milk after this with avidity." 

Realizing that permanent results could not be 
His Rule Ex- hoped for so long as his own efforts in Southern 
Sudan were being hampered by a contrary policy 
pursued in Northern Sudan by an Egyptian Gov- 
ernor-General, Gordon decided, in 1876, to resign 
from service. The Khedive, however, was loath 
to lose one whose administration and whose repu- 
tation had alike proved most valuable to him, and 
he accordingly agreed to a readjustment whereby 
Gordon should be appointed Governor-General of 



tended. 



i A SORROWFUL PAST 65 

the entire Sudan, from Egypt and the Red Sea to 
the southernmost boundary of the Sudan. Thus 
Gordon entered upon his second term of service 
in the Sudan, which lasted from 1877 to the close 
of 1879. Upon his arrival at Khartum, now in- 
vested with supreme authority, Gordon found it 
necessary to submit to certain formalities, (which 
his soul always loathed) connected with his instal- 
lation into office. The ceremony proved interesting The inaugura- 
enough to be referred to. There were first certain 
elaborate ceremonies of reception. Then followed 
the reading of the firman (edict) of his appoint- 
ment. Then came the Cadi's extended address. 
Then the royal salute was fired. Then the gath- 
ered officials waited breathlessly for the Gover- 
nor-General's response, which would outline the 
policy of his administration and set forth his pro- 
gram of government. The Governor- General 
responded. The address was somewhat shorter 
than they expected. It was also quite clear. No 
manuscript copy was required. No stenographic 
report was needed. It was simply this : 

"With the help of God, I will hold the balance 
level/' 

In his efforts to suppress the slave trade, Gor- 
don worked tirelessly. In the three years, — 1877, 
1878 and 1879, — he rode 8,490 miles on camels 
and mules. His average day's journey on camels 
was 32^ miles. "It is only by hard camel-rid- 



66 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

ing that I hold my position among the people," 
he wrote in his diary. And indeed he almost 
gained a reputation for omnipresence. At one 
time, he heard that a revolt was being planned by 
certain troops. He rode on camel eighty-five 
miles in a day and a half, outstripped his escort 
and arrived alone. The leaders of the revolt 
were so dumbfounded to see him riding up 
through the line of soldiers, that they failed to 
carry out their plans, and declared themselves 
loyal to the Government. 

It was only at the price of great anxiety that 
Gordon thus forced crises to> a successful issue, 

His Devotion . . . . 

to Duty. either without troops and trusting entirely to his 

personal influence and leadership, or else accom- 
panied by forces of whose loyalty he was never 
certain. More than once he looked death calmly 
in the face. "In China," he wrote, "it was other- 
wise; I felt confident my troops would stand. 
Long before you get this, I shall be out of my 
troubles ; so do not pity me, for I have the Al- 
mighty to guide me, and death is no terror. I 
only wish you to know how worn I am through 
having to lean on God alone. 

"This seems odd, but it is diametrically opposed 
to our flesh to do so, and it is trying. My flesh 
says, T should like 1,000 good, trustworthy sold- 
iers and not Hlis promise. It is utterly wrong, but 
a widow would prefer £15,000 in the three per 
cent, consols to the promise that God will provide 



A SORROWFUL PAST 6j 

for her After my spirit, I prefer the 

promise; after my flesh, I prefer the 1,000 sold- 
iers ; not having them, my spirit lords it over my Trust in ' Go<L 
flesh and conquers; but the flesh suffers all the 
same, and I see the deep lines in my face getting 
deeper and deeper day iby day. Why did I go? 
Well, He sent me, for I went on a toss-up. He is 
Governor-General. I am only His agent." 

One loyal and efficient officer cooperated with 
Gordon in the suppression of slave raiding and 
slave trading. This was Gessi. Gordon described 
him thus: "Romulus Gessi, Italian subject; aged 
forty-nine; short, compact figure; cool, most de- 
termined man. Born genius for practical inge- 
nuity in mechanics." 

It was this man Gessi whom Gordon sent up the 
Nile to suppress a revolt in the Bahr el Ghazal 
Province, led by Suleiman, chief of the slave raid- Gessi's work, 
ers. It would fill a volume to relate the dangers 
and struggles that this Italian officer went through. 
He found Suleiman devastating the country. 
"Those of the neighboring chieftains who would 
not submit to him, Suleiman attacked in their 
strongholds and put to the sword. The women 
and children, he either butchered or enslaved. He 
robbed the people of their stores of grain. In some 
places, there was nothing left for them to eat but 
the leaves of the trees." 

Gessi was compelled to move against Suleiman 
with a hopelessly insufficient force. He had bu': 



68 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

a thousand men against the enemy's six thousand. 
The closing of the Nile channel by long grass 
prevented speedy communication with Khartum. 
Some of Gessi's letters to Khartum took five 
months to reach their destination. For four 
months, Gessi was on the defensive in a place 
which he had fortified. Again and again, the 
enemy attacked him in overwhelming numbers, 
but each time was driven back. Ammunition ran 
so short that Gessi's men had to pick up the ene- 
my's bullets which fell in camp and cast them 
anew. Finally, receiving two barrels of powder 
and three ingots of lead, Gessi decided to venture 
upon a sortie. The attack was successful and the 
besieged now became the pursuers. 

In a few months, Gessi restored more than ten 
sufSmanf thousand liberated slaves to their homes. One 
day eight slave dealers were brought into his 
camp, and with them twenty-eight children whom 
they had chained together. He had the guilty 
wretches shot in sight of all the troops. "The 
people were wild with delight. The news of the 
punishment of the oppressors had spread like wild 
fire. To village after village the poor captives had 
been restored — rescued from what had seemed an 
endless and hopeless slavery." 

In the end, Gessi overtook the slave dealer's 
army. "On the night of July 15th, he was abreast 
of the enemy, and at a distance from them of only 
a few miles. With the break of day, he surprised 



A SORROWFUL PAST 69 

them in their sleep in the village of Gara. How 
many peaceful villages in days gone by had these 
packs of wolves burst upon in the dead of night ! 
Hbw many homes had they sacked, what rivers of 
blood had they caused to flow ! What thousands 
and tens of thousands of lives had they wasted in 
slow misery whose dumb cry had reached no ear 
but Heaven's! Their day had come at last and 
had come none too soon!" With the bland re- 
mark, "Thus it is that God makes gaps in the 
ranks of His enemies," Gessi shot Suleiman, the 
chief of the slave-raiders. 

Such is the briefest survey of Gordon's work 
and that of Gessi. At last, however, Gordon's Gordon Re- 
term of service as Governor-General of the Sudan tir€S ' 
came to an end. A new Khedive came to the 
throne of Egypt. Adapting the story of Joseph 
we may say, "Now there arose a new king over 
Egypt who knew not Gordon." Failing to receive 
cordial support from Cairo, and finding his health 
in a very serious condition owing to the expos- 
ures and hardships of his work in the Sudan, 
Gordon felt obliged to resign the Governorship of 
the Sudan. 

Would the country relapse into the horrors of 
slavery ? Would Gordon's work be lost ? Gordon 
could not give a clear answer even to himself. But, 
having done what he could, he left results with 
God. He rested in that faith which led him once 



yO SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

to write : "Were it not for the very great comfort 
I have in communion with God, and the knowl- 
edge that He is Governor-General, I could not get 
on at all." 



CHAPTER III 



Fire and Sword 



A favorite verse of General Gordon; a copy was 
hung by him in his bedroom at Rockstone Place, South- 
ampton : 

"Oh! ask not thou, How shall I bear 
The burden of to-morrow?. 
Sufficient for the day its care, 
Its evil, and its sorrow; 
God imparteth by the way 
Strength sufficient for the day." 

"Not by the blind hazard of chance was this great 
tragedy consummated; not by the discord of men or 
from the vague opposition of physical obstacle, by 
fault of route or length of delay, was help denied to 
him. The picture of a wonderful life had to be made 
perfect by heroic death." 

— Sir William F. Butler. 



Ill 

FIRE AND SWORD 

AFTER Gordon's departure, the govern- 
ment of the Sudan fell back into ways 
of tyranny and oppression. The cup of 
iniquity, which had been almost full be- 
fore Gordon's righteous rule brought a tempor- 
ary respite, now overflowed. The country, smart- 
ing under oppression, was ripe for a rebellion. 
The man of the hour for such a rebellion was 
Mohammed Ahmed. Slatin Pasha gives the fol- 
lowing description of him : "He was a tall, broad 
shouldered man of light-brown color, and power- 
fully built; he had a large head and sparkling 
black eyes; he wore a black beard, and had the 
usual three slits on each cheek; his nose and 
mouth were well shaped, and he had the habit of 
always smiling, showing his white teeth and ex- 
posing the V-shaped aperture between the two 
front ones, which is always considered a sign of 
good luck in the Sudan. Hie wore a short quilted 
jibba, beautifully washed, perfumed with sandal- 
wood, musk and attar of roses." 
Mohammed Ahmed originally came from 

73 



The Mahdi. 



74 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Dongola in Northern Sudan, and was of 
a religious turn of mind. He attached him- 
self to the leader of a religious sect, 
near the Island of Abba on the White 
Nile. Later he broke with this religious leader 
because he permitted singing and dancing in con- 
nection with a feast. This action gave the young 
religious devotee a wonderful reputation for holi- 
ness. Attaching himself to another Mohamme- 
dan sect, he soon 'became its leader. He traveled 
about the country, gaining converts and announc- 
ing himself to those whom he felt he could trust 
as "El Mahdi el Muntazir," the Expected Guide. 
It is necessary to remember that the Sudan, es- 
pecially Northern Sudan, is colored by the Mos- 
lem faith. Mohammedanism, like Christianity 
from which it sprang, looks forward to a millen- 
nial age to be ushered in by some one sent by 
God, who will bear the title of "Mahdi." This 
prophecy, and the expectation which it has cre- 
ated in Moslem minds, has been the opportunity 
of fanatic after fanatic to declare himself the 
long-looked-for leader. 

With sorrow and suffering, slavery and op- 
pression hanging like a pall over the Sudan, it 
did indeed seem as if the time had come for a 
day of deliverance to dawn in the Sudan. To the 
naturally religious nature of the Negro of South- 
ern Sudan, as well as to the Moslem Arabs of 
Northern Sudan, the religious claim of Moham- 



FIRE AND SWORD 75 

med Ahmed made a powerful appeal. Men ral- 
lied to the standards of this false prophet. It was 
no wonder. They had little to lose, they had 
much to gain. Heaven was assured them if they 
died in this holy war. If they lived, earth might 
also foe theirs with its enjoyment of plunder and 
booty. 

The Government shortly learned that trouble 
was brewing and sent a special messenger to bring 
Mohammed Ahmed to Khartum, but the latter 
overawed the Governor's representative with an 
assertion of his claims to the title of Mahdi, and Rebellion, 
the man returned to Khartum empty-handed. 
Then the Governor sent, in August, 1881, two 
companies of soldiers to bring the Pretender for- 
cibly to Khartum. The Mahdi and his followers 
fell upon these and only a few escaped to tell of 
their mis-managed attack upon the Mahdi's vil- 
lage. Again another force was organized, this 
time from Fashoda, to attack the Mahdi and his 
increased following in Kordofan to which point 
they had moved from the Island of Abba. But 
this force was also ambushed and some fourteen 
hundred men were annihilated. Another expedi- 
tion was organized and left Khartum in March, 
1882, four thousand strong; it was reenforced by 
two thousand troops from El Obeid. Utterly 
careless and reckless, this expedition incurred de- 
feat by a night attack, and the Mahdi's great vic- 
tory was ascribed to his supernatural power and 



Mahdist Suc- 



7& SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

became the sure proof of bis prophetic claims. 
Meanwhile the Mahdi sent his emissaries far and 
wide inciting the whole population to rebellion 
and summoning their warriors to rally around 
his standards. Stronghold after stronghold fell, 
enhancing his reputation and adding to his store 
of ammunition and to his stock of arms. Through- 
out Western Sudan his leadership was universally 
accepted. The Egyptian Government made a su- 
preme effort to check the rising tide of Mahdism 
and sent forth Hicks Pasha with a mob of ten 
thousand men, mostly undrilled Egyptians, to at- 
tack an enemy that by this time could rally one 
hundred thousand fanatical warriors. What oc- 
curred on November 4th, 1883, was scarcely a 
battle ; rather was it a massacre from which only 
a few individuals escaped. 

The Egyptian Government, realizing the grav- 
ity of the situation and embarrassed financially 
and politically by events connected with the Arabi 
Rebellion in Egypt and the British Occupation, 
resolved upon the withdrawal of her troops and 
garrisons in the Sudan, and the temporary aban- 
donment of the country. It was quite an impos- 
sible task, however, to withdraw the Egyptian 
troops, for there were no ready means of trans- 
portation, and the country was aflame with re- 
bellion. To accomplish this impossible task, the 
Egyptian Government turned to Gordon, who 
had governed the Sudan so successfully a short 



FIRE AND SWORD J J 

time before. January 18th, 1884, found Gordon 
leaving London for Khartum, and on February 
19th he entered that city. 

The story of Gordon at Khartum is a long one 
and a sad one. It is difficult to compress into the 
limits of a few paragraphs the events of eleven 
months and eight days, or to set forth in a brief 
sketch the noble traits of character which these jjjjijj 1011 ' 8 Re " 
experiences revealed in General Gordon. Those 
who read his journals will appreciate better the 
significance of his life at Khartum. Here we 
come nearest to the heart of the man and the cir- 
cumstances of his life. 

We see how he was hampered by shiftless men : 
"If these Arabs (one's servants) are not eating, 
they are saying their prayers ; if not saying their 
prayers, they are sleeping; if not sleeping, they 
are sick. Now figure to yourself the position; 
you cannot do anything with them while in these 
fortresses — eating, saying prayers, sleeping, or 
sick, — and they know it It is a beau- 
tiful country for trying experiments with your 
patience. " 

Again, he speaks of the unreliability of his 
troops: "I have ever felt the greatest insecurity 
respecting the lines, for I believe one hundred 
determined men would carry them with ease, if 
they made their attack on the Shaggia or Bashi 
Bazouk part. These creatures used to shut them- 



J& SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

selves into the houses at about 7 P. M. and never 
go out till it was broad daylight." 

Then, too, Gordon had to deal with dishonesty. 
When the life of the city was so dependent on the 
stock of provisions, dishonesty here was disheart- 
ening. Two months before the city fell, he 
camp. ei l wrote : "Some one has stolen 93,000 okes of bis- 
cuit; this robbery took place nearly a year ago 
and was only found out two days ago. .... 
Rectified list of biscuits is 266,430 okes. Durra 
(corn) is 2,110 ardebs in magazine to-day — six 
weeks' consumption! and then the sponge must 
•be thrown up. I could write volumes of pent-up 
wrath on this subject if I did not believe things 
are ordained and all work for the best." 

Although so sorely tried, yet his love and 
pity for the people did not fail; "I declare sol- 
emnly, that if it were not for the honor's sake of 
our nation, I would let these people slide ; they are 
of the very feeblest nature ; but because they are 
weak, there is so much more the reason to try and 
help them; for I think it was because we were 
such worthless creatures, that our Lord came to 
deliver us." 

That Gordon fully faced the thought of death 
long before the city was captured, is clear from 
the following entry in his journal: "I toss up in 
my mind, whether, if the place be taken, to blow 
up the place and all in it, or else to be taken, and, 
with God's help, to maintain the faith, and if nee- 



FIRE AND SWORD 79 

essary to suffer for it (which is most probable). 
The blowing up of the palace is the simplest, 
while the other means long and weary suffering 
and humiliation of all sorts. I think I shall elect 
for the last, not from fear of death, but because 
the former has more or less the taint of suicide, as 
it can do no good to any one, and is, in a way, 
taking things out of God's hands." 

Soon the Mahdi forces appeared across the 
White and Blue Niles, and the siege of Khartum 
began. Gordon seemed to have been forgotten 
by the land that gave him birth and by the na- 
tion whose interests he was serving. 

Several months before the city fell, Gordon 
generously sent down the river Stewart, Power 
and Herbin, the only other Englishmen at Khar- 
tum. He thought thus to save their lives, but 
the party was murdered and the dispatches they 
carried were lost. 

Then we have the inspiring, yet pathetic, pic- 
ture of General Gordon left alone in Khartum, Unse m s ii d< 
the only Englishman in a city of 34,000 souls. V0tl0n - 
We see him here doing the work of a hundred 
men, strengthening the defences of the city in 
every conceivable way, baffled by the shiftless- 
ness and incompetency of native officials, encour- 
aging the people by promises until their faith 
even in his word as an Englishman began to fail, 
yet inspiring them, week after week and month 
after month, to new resistance. We see him 



80 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

often discouraged, but never showing it, 
always leaning on the assurance of a Divine Pro- 
vidence. Again and again he looks out of his pal- 
ace window and scans the northern horizon to see 
if the long-looked-for Relief Expedition is in 
sight, then turns back to the cares and anxieties, 
the weariness and worries, of the defence of the 
city. 

The last entry in any journal that has been 
preserved is made under date of December 14, 
1884. At this time there remained in the city 
provisions for only eleven more days, yet we know 
that the city actually held out for a full month 
longer. We can imagine therefore, to what 
straits the population was driven. There is under 
the same date a letter to his sister : 

"14 December, 1884. — This may be the last letter you 
will receive from me, for we are on our last legs, owing 
to the delay of the expedition. However, God rules all, 
and, as He will rule to His glory and our welfare, His 

will be done 

"Your affectionate brother, 




The Governor's Palace at Khartum. 

Front and Rear Views: Built on site of old palace. Gordon was 

slain near where circular stairway appears in lower picture. 



FIRE AND SWORD 8l 

It is Sabbath morning, January 25, 1885. To 
the anxious inhabitants of Khartum, it has been 
far from a day of rest or peace, for the roar of 
cannon has been heard all day. As darkness 
falls, there is a cessation of firing, but the silence 
seems more ominous than the noise of cannon The Attack, 
had been. The wearied and half-fed defenders 
drop into a tired sleep, but across the river in the 
Mahdi's camp, there is renewed activity, for 
during this night a great assault is to be made 
upon the city. Boat load after boat load of Mah- 
dist soldiers is brought across the river. The 
Mahdi himself comes across to harangue the 
troops. Silence is strictly enjoined that no shouts 
of war-cries may arouse the sleeping defenders. 
Finally, all preparations are completed and the 
Mahdi forces advance upon the city. The night 
is far spent. Indeed dawn is breaking. Sud- 
denly the stillness is broken by a deafening dis- 
charge of thousands of rifles and guns. The 
weakened defences of Khartum are scaled, the 
enemy is within the city. Did treachery open 
the gates and make the capture of the city easier ? 
None may say definitely, though many believe it. 

Then the cry is raised, "Lil Saraya !" "To the 
Palace!" Here they expected to find rich treas- Death of Gor . 
ure. Gordon came forth upon the steps of the don - 
palace and called out to the mob, "Where is your 
leader ?" Doubtless he hoped to parley for the 
lives of the inhabitants. Ignoring his question, 



82 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Character of 
Gordon. 



Dislike of 
Display. 



the irresponsible mob surged forward. A javelin 
was thrown. It struck Gordon in the breast. Hie 
fell forward. Other blows were struck and he 
whom the Sudanese women had once called "the 
father and savior of the Sudan," lay dead ! 

"By those for whom he lived, he died. 
His land awoke too late, to crown dead brows with 
praise." 

Two days later, just forty-eight hours too late, 
the British Relief Expedition steamed into sight 
and, seeing that the city was captured, steamed 
away again, not to reappear until General Kitch- 
ener, by a series of campaigns extending over 
thirteen long years, had first stemmed the ad- 
vancing tide of the rebellion and then had driven 
it back to its final overthrow at the Battle of Om- 
durman. 

Character of Gordon. 

In view of the exceedingly brief account that 
space allows for the portrayal of Gordon's life 
and work, it may not be amiss to definitely point 
out certain characteristics of the man. 

His indifference to position, public honors and 
money : The Chinese Government twice offered 
him large sums of money as a reward for his 
great services in suppressing the Taiping Rebel- 
lion. Both offers were firmly declined. They 
sent him six mandarin dresses in the correct 
fashion for his official rank. He could not refuse 



FIRE AND SWORD ^3 

them, but writes regretfully, "Some of the but- 
tons on the mandarin hats are worth thirty or 
forty pounds ($150 or $200). I am sorry for it, 
as they cannot afford it over well." In his honor, 
a heavy gold medal was struck by the two Em- 
press Regents. This he prized very highly; but 
removed its inscription and sent it as an anony- 
mous gift, at one time when many operatives 
were in distress and an appeal had been made for 
their relief. This explains a phrase he was wont 
to use to describe the height of self-sacrifice, "You 
must give up your medal." When he entered 
the Khedive's service, the Khedive fixed his sal- 
ary at $50,000 a year; Gordon refused to accept 
more than $10,000; this left him greater indepen- 
dence and put the position he occupied beyond 
the covetousness of money-loving Pashas. "The 
astonished Egyptian officials looked on in amaze- 
ment at one in high rank, who examined into 
every detail himself and who took his turn of the 
hard work." On his journey up the Nile, he 
would turn in and help his own men in pulling 
the boat. 

He had a genuine sympathy with those in dis- sympathy. 
tress whether high or low. He felt genuinely 
sorry for the Khedive, and although he had fully 
planned to give up the arduous service in the Su- 
dan, he changed his mind on receipt of a letter 
from the Khedive and stayed another year. "The 
man had gone to all this expense," wrote Gordon, 



84 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

"under the belief that I would stick to him; I 
could not therefore leave him." 

"The poor slaves," says Boulger, "from whose 
limbs the chains of their oppressors had only 
just been struck, would come round him when 
anxious about his health, and gently touch him 
with their fingers. The hostile chiefs, hearing as 
Bedden did, that he restored his cattle to and 
recompensed in other ways a friendly chief who 
had been attacked in mistake, would lie in wait 
for him, and lay their views and grievances be- 
fore him." 

He had a keen sense of humor: "Last night, 

Sense of Hu- ,,,,,,,, „ . , 

mor. March 26th, he wrote, we were going along 

slowly in the moonlight, and I was thinking of 
you all, and of the expeditions, and Nubar and 
Company when all of a sudden from a large bush 
came peals of laughter. I felt put out, but it turn- 
ed out to be birds, who laughed at us from the 
bushes for some time in a very rude way. They 
are a species of stork, and seemed in capital spir- 
its, and highly amused at anybody thinking of 
going to Gondokoro with the hope of doing any- 
thing." His journals and letters abound in re- 
marks which show a quaint but keen sense of 
humor. 

„ „ t He was essentially religious: This is meant in 

Godliness. J *> 

the best sense. He could not tolerate the slight- 
est suspicion of cant or pharisaism. His relig- 
ion was real, for he hated formalism. 



FIRE AND SWORD 85 

He was a Bible student. 

"Boldly and humbly study the Scriptures," he 
writes. "God's dwelling in us is the key to them ; 
they are a sealed book as long as you do not re- 
alize this truth which is sure and certain whether 

you feel it or not Die now and you 

will never die. .... God's in-dwelling is 
all in all the great secret." 

He was not only a strong believer in a ruling 
and overruling Providence, but felt constantly 
in touch with his God, so that to Gordon, God 
was a friend to be leaned upon in time of need. 
Indeed he carried to its logical conclusion and 
applied fully to his own life the doctrine of sur- 
render to the will of God. 

"Duffli, 10 July, 1876. 
"Thank God I am well, and so happy now I have 
resigned the government of the Province and put all 
the faults on my 'Friend.' He is able to bear them and 
will use me as long as He pleases as His mouthpiece, 
and when He has done with me He will put me aside. 
. . . . I do not know if you will see this 'pearF at 
once, but I consider it a great stride in the knowledge 
of Him, and yet it is an old truth. I consider, now I 
am free from any responsibility about the Province or 
my staying or leaving, that He has taken the whole work 
off my hands and that I am on leave as it were. What 
a comfort it is ! He offers to do the same for all ; but 
many appear to say, 'No, I would rather do my own 
work.' " 

That Gordon was a man of prayer has often 



86 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Prayer Life, been mentioned, but many will be surprised to 
learn to what extent he made use of prayer in 
solving the problems of his work even among 
pagan Sudanese: — 

"Foggia, 7 June, 1877. 
"Praying for the people whom I am about to visit 
gives me much strength and it is wonderful how some- 
thing seems already to have passed between us when I 
meet with a chief (for whom I have prayed) for the 
first time. On this I base my hopes of a triumphal march 
to Fasher; the chiefs cannot wish war and can 
have little hopes of success, seeing that, as I 
trust is the case, Fasher has been relieved. I 
have really no troops with me, but I have the Shekinah, 
and I do like trusting to Him and not to man." 

Should it seem strange that through his con- 
stant study of the Scriptures, Gordon should have 
also discovered and laid hold of the blessed hope 
of his Lord's return? Writing in his journal at 
Debbe, on February 15, 1878, he says: 

"I wish, I wish the King would come again and put 
things right on earth ; but His coming is far off, for the 
whole world must long for Him ere He comes, and I 
really believe there are but very, very few who would 
wish Him to appear, for to do so is to desire death and 
how few do this ! Not that we really ever die : we only 
change our sheaths." 

The Reign of Mahdism. 

The Mahdi movement was, in its beginnings, 
a religious movement. Its proclamations were 



FIRE AND SWORD %J 

made, "In the name of God, the Merciful, the 
Compassionate." The Mahdi claimed to be the 
Vicar of God, the prophesied "Guide." From all SahSsm. 
this, it might he inferred that the movement had, 
perhaps, a large measure of good in it. This 
however, was not the case, as may he seen from 
the character and acts of its leaders. 

The capture of the city of Khartum was mark- 
ed by the greatest atrocities. The men were gen- 
erally put to death. The women and girls were 
gathered together, and after the Mahdi had pick- 
ed out those he wished for his harem, the rest 
were distributed among his officers and troops in 
the order of their precedence in rank. 

Shortly after the fall of Khartum, on June 22d, 
1885, the Mahdi died. During his life time, how- 
ever, he had appointed four Khalifas to assist 
him in the government of his newly established 
kingdom and to succeed him at his death. These 
four were: 

Abdulla Ibn el Sayid (Taaisha tribe). 

Ali Wad Helu (Degheim Arab). 

Sheikh el Senussi (who never accepted). 

Mohammed el Sherif (son-in-law of Mahdi). 

Upon the death of the Mahdi, Khalifa Abdulla 
succeeded him and became preeminently The 
Khalifa, never assuming the title of Mahdi. As 
the Khalifa was the leader of the Mahdi move- 
ment for thirteen of the seventeen years during 
which this movement lasted, he it was who deter- 



The Khalifa. 



88 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

mined the character of Mahdism and was chiefly 
responsible for almost a decade and a half of fire 
and sword and famine. It is to 'be noted that the 
Khalifa, like the Mahdi, was chiefly of Arab de- 
scent. While the Mahdi originally came from 
Dongola along the Nile, well to the north, Ab- 
dulla, his Khalifa, came from Darfur and be- 
longed to the Taaisha division of the Baggara 
(cattle owning) tribe. This was a warlike, slave 
raiding tribe, but Arab rather than Negro; so 
much so that Abdulla's father had planned to 
leave the Sudan and remove to Arabia. While 
Mahdism swept negro and pagan sections, as a 
fire sweeps a prairie, yet it had its origin and 
leadership in men and tribes that were Arab and 
Mohammedan; this is an important point to ob- 
serve if we are deducing national and racial 
traits out of these movements of history. 

Slatin Pasha, who was a prisoner of the Mahdi 
and of the Khalifa for eleven long years and 
whose book "Fire and Sword in the Sudan" is 
one of the most thrilling narratives imaginable, 
gives this description of the Khalifa's appearance 
when he first saw him : 

"He had a light-brown complexion, a sympa- 
thetic Arab face, on which the marks of small-pox 
were still traceable, an aquiline nose, a well-shaped 
mouth, slight moustache, and a fringe of hair on 
his cheeks, but rather thicker on his chin ; he was 
about middle height, neither thin nor stout, was 



FIRE AND SWORD 89 

wearing a jibba covered with small square 
patches of different colors, and a Mecca takia, or 
skull cap, round which was bound a cotton turban ; 
he generally spoke with a smile and showed a row 
of glistening white teeth." 

Later he described his appearance and life as 
follows : 

"He joined the Mahdi at the age of thirty-five, 
and was then a slim and active, though power- 
fully built man ; but latterly he has become very 
stout, and his lightness of gait has long since dis- 
appeared. He is now forty-nine years of age, but Traits of 
looks considerably older, and the hair of his beard 
is almost white. At times the expression of his 
face is one of charming amiability, but more gen- 
erally it is one of dark sternness, in which tyranny 
and unscrupulous resolution are unmistakably 
visible. He is rash and quick-tempered, acting 
often without a moment's consideration, and 
when in this mood even his own brother dares 
not approach him. His nature is suspicious to a 
degree to every one, his nearest relatives and 
members of his household included. He admits 
that loyalty and fidelity are rare qualities, and 
that those who have to deal with him invariably 
conceal their real feelings in order to gain their 
own ends. He is most susceptible to flattery, and 
consequently receives an inordinate amount from 
every one. No one dares to speak to him without 
referring in the most fulsome terms, to his wis- 



90 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

dam, power, justice, courage, generosity, and 
truthfulness. He accepts this absurd adulation 
with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction; but 
woe to him who in the slightest degree offends 
his dignity! 

"In all intercourse with him he demands the 
most complete humility and submission. Persons 
entering his presence stand in front of him with 
their hands crossed over their breasts and their 
eyes lowered to the ground, awaiting his permis- 
sion to be seated. In his audience chamber he is 
generally seated on an angareb, over which a 
palm-mat is spread and his sheepskin stretched 
out on it, whilst he leans against a large roll of 
cotton cloth which forms a pillow. When those 
brought before him are allowed to be seated, they 
take up a position as in prayers, with their eyes 
fixed on the ground, and in this posture they an- 
swer the questions put to them, and dare not 
move until permission is given them to with- 
draw." 

"The Khalifa thought it incumbent on his po- 
sition to maintain a large establishment; and as 
this was also entirely in conformity with his own 
inclinations, he gradually became possessor of a 
harem of over four hundred wives. In accord- 
ance with the Mohammedan law, he has four 
legal wives, who belong to free tribes ; but, being 
a lover of change, he never hesitates to divorce 
them at will, and take others in their places. The 



FIRE AND SWORD 91 

other women of the household consist for the 
most part of young girls, many of whom belong 
to tribes which have been forced to accept Mah- 
dism, and whose husbands and fathers fought 
against him. They are, therefore, regarded as 
booty, and have only the rights and claims of 
concubines, or, in some cases, of slaves. This 
large assortment of ladies varies in color from 
light-brown to the deepest black, and comprises 
almost every tribe in the Sudan." 

The Khalifa had a building erected over the 
tomb of the Mahdi, as a monument to his name, Mahdi's sacred 

. . Tomb. 

the Khalifa himself laying the foundation of it. 
This building, standing to the east of the Great 
Square where thousands gathered daily for 
prayer and prayed with their faces toward it, be- 
came one of the most venerated points in all the 
Sudan and it was announced that pilgrimage was 
to be made to the tomb of the Mahdi at Omdur- 
man rather than to the tomb of the Prophet or 
even to Mecca. 

Three words characterize the thirteen years of 
the Khalifa's rule: Cruelty, Famine and War. 

Cruelty. Much of this was the direct outcome 
of the Khalifa's jealousy, exaggerated vanity and Cruelty of 
suspicious nature. When an attack upon Egypt Khalifa - 
was being organized in 1889, he called upon the 
Betahin tribesmen to enlist by coming to Om- 
durman. They hesitated. So he ordered sixty- 
seven of their chief men to be seized and brought, 



Famine. 



92 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

with their families, to Omdurman. Here they 
were divided into three parties. Those of the 
first were hanged. Those of the second were de- 
capitated. Those of the third had their right 
hands and left feet cut off, whilst their relatives 
were bidden to gather up their mutilated re- 
mains. "It was Abdulla," says Slatin Pasha, 
"who gave the order for no quarter at the storm- 
ing of Khartum, and it was he who subsequently 
authorized the wholesale massacre of the men, 
women, and children. After the fall of that city, 
it was he who, for the period of four days, de- 
clared the whole Shaigia tribe to be outlaws. 
When distributing the captured women and chil- 
dren, he was utterly regardless of their feelings. 
To separate children from their mothers, and to 
make their reunion practically impossible by scat- 
tering them amongst different tribes, was his 
principal delight." 

Famine : The Khalifa's army claimed so many 
able-bodied men that at times almost all the men 
of a given area were drafted into his army and 
there were none left to carry on the cultivation 
of the land. The maintenance of these thousands 
of troops frequently required the appropriation by 
force of the herds of sheep and cattle upon which 
their owners depended for their subsistence. Mis- 
government and war also closed up many of the 
avenues of trade and commerce both within the 
Sudan and with lands outside the Sudan, so that 



FIRE AND SWORD 93 

in this direction also the land became impoverish- 
ed. This resulted in a disastrous shortage of pro- 
visions, and famine conditions existed through- 
out the Sudan and even in Omdurman, the capi- 
tal of the Mahdi Kingdom. In many villages, 
men blocked up the doors of their huts with 
stones, so that the hyenas and other wild beasts 
might not attack them in their weakness. Then 
they lay down to die of starvation. The White 
Nile brought down the bodies of those whom 
famine had overtaken in the interior. In the city 
of Omdurman, it was with difficulty that the dead 
were given a burial. What frightful experiences 
attended these famine periods may be inferred 
from the following paragraphs : 

"One night — it was full moon — <I was going home at 
about twelve o'clock, when, near the Beit el Amana (am- 
munition and arms stores) I saw something moving on 
the ground, and went near to see what it was. As I ap- 
proached I saw three almost naked women, with their 
long tangled hair hanging about their shoulders; they 
were squatting round a quite young donkey, which was 
lying on the ground, and had probably strayed from its 
mother, or had been stolen by them. They had torn 
open its body with their teeth, and were devouring its 
intestines, whilst the poor animal was still breathing. I 
shuddered at this terrible sight, whilst the poor women, 
infuriated by hunger, gazed at me like maniacs. The 
beggars by whom I was followed now fell upon them, 
and attempted to wrest from them their prey; and I 
fled from this uncanny spectacle. 

"On another occasion I saw a poor woman who 



94 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

must formerly have been beautiful, but on whose 
emaciated face the death-struggle was visible, lying on 
her back in the street, whilst her little baby, scarcely a 
year old, was vainly trying to get some nourishment 
from its mother's already cold breasts. Another woman 
passing by took compassion on the little orphan and 
carried it off. 

"Another woman was actually accused of eating her 
own child, and was brought to the police-station for 
trial; but of what use was this? In two days the poor 
creature died a raving maniac!" 

War : War also made fearful inroads upon life 
and upon the material resources of the Sudan. 
In the first flush of enthusiasm over the fall of 

Terrors of ,---... 

war. Khartum, plans for extended foreign invasions 

were announced. Egypt was to be invaded; 
Abyssinia was to be conquered; the Southland 
was to be reduced to slavery. The Mahdi's army 
did not lack in brave leadership and the story is a 
long one, which tells of their raids and rallies, 
their assaults and forays, on the east against 
Abyssinia, on the south against the Shilluks, on 
the west into Darfur, and on the north against 
Egypt. Meanwhile, Kitchener was organizing an 
army of Egyptians and of Sudanese and of Brit- 
ish troops for the reconquest of the Sudan. Each 
year thousands of Sudanese were sacrificed by 
the Khalifa in a vain attempt to stem the pro- 
gress of Kitchener's army. 

Was it any wonder that, during this decade and 
a half, these three forces, War, Famine, Misrule, 



FIRE AND SWORD 95 

brought down the population of the Egyptian 
Sudan from ten millions to less than two millions. 
Surely this was a literal fulfilment of the dark 
prophecy of Isaiah: "They shall be left together 
unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to 
the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds 
shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of 
the earth shall winter upon them." 

Overthrozv of Mahdism. 

The reign of Mahdism in the Sudan ended on 
September 2d, 1898, at the battle of Omdurman. 

Year after year, Kitchener had been pushing 5jj ch 2£| r% 
his railroad and his army steadily up the Nile. 
There are those who say that the railroad, not 
the army, conquered the Sudan. Certainly in 
former years, lack of means of transportation 
had proved the undoing of many an expedition 
into the Sudan. However, we must not forget 
the army: "The British troops, the backbone of 
the army; the Egyptian troops — reorganized, re- 
officered and disciplined since the days when they 
could only be counted on to run — now thoroughly 
reliable, whether for a charge or for bearing the 
brunt of an attack; and the blacks, Sudanese 
themselves, many of them captives from former 
battles, now only difficult to handle because of 
their impetuous desire to charge the enemy and 
come to a close encounter." 

September 2d, 1898, found the army but a 



96 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

few miles from Omdurman. The capital of Mah- 
dism had been reached. The enemy had to fight 
now and win, or be forever defeated. Khalifa 
Abckilla rallied every fighter to meet the crisis. 
He had marshalled a force of no less than 35,000 
men. Some placed the figures higher. 

And they fought! You can read the full ac- 
Battie of om- count of that battle in Steevens's "With Kitch- 
durman. ener to Khartum." As you read of their self- 

forgetful courage, of the devotion with which 
they rallied around the black banners of their 
leaders, of the fearless charges which they made 
in the face of the pitiless fire of the British; as 
you see how 10,000 of them did not hesitate to 
give up their lives freely for the cause to which 
they were committed — the exclamation will be 
forced to your lips, "What magnificent Christians 
these men might have made !" 

Look, however, at the faces of the dead on the 
battlefield of Omdurman and you will recognize 
the features of those tribes who, in days gone by, 
were foremost in slave raiding and slave trading. 

"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will re- 
pay." And the death of these meant the opening 
of the Sudan to civilization and evangelization. 

It was on Friday, September 2d, that Kitchen- 
er's army marched into Omdurman. On Sab- 
bath morning, September 4th, a unique service 
was held across the river at Khartum. It was the 




The Mahdi's Tomb in Ruins. 

Destroyed by Kitchener to prevent its becoming a center of future 

fanaticism. 

The Death of the Khalifa. 
(See page 99.) 



FIRE AND SWORD 97 

funeral service of Gordon. We will let Steevens 
describe it: 

"The steamers — screws, paddles, stern-wheelers — 
plug plugged their steady way up the full Nile. Past 
the northern fringe of Omdurman where the sheikh 
came out with the white flag, past the breach where we 
went in to the Khalifa's stronghold, past the choked em- 
brasures and the lacerated Mahdi's tomb, past the 
swamp-rooted palms of Tuti Island. We looked at it all 
with a dispassionate impersonal curiosity. It was Sun- 
day morning, and the furious Friday seemed already Gordon > s Fun . 
half a lifetime behind us. The volleys had dwindled out eral Service. 
of our ears, and the smoke out of our nostrils ; and to- 
day we were going to the funeral of Gordon. After 
nearly fourteen years the Christian soldier was to have 
Christian burial. 

"The boats stopped plugging and there was silence. 
We were tying up opposite a grove of tall palms. 

"The troops formed up before the palace in three 
sides of a rectangle — Egyptians to our left as we looked 
from the river, British to the right. The Sirdar, the 
generals of division and brigade, and the staff stood in 
the open space facing the palace. Then on the roof — 
almost on the very spot where Gordon fell, though the 
steps by which the butchers mounted have long since 
vanished — we were aware of two flagstaves. 

"The Sirdar raised his hand. A pull on the hal- 
liards : up ran, out flew, the Union Jack, tugging eagerly 
at his reins, dazzling gloriously in the sun, rejoicing in 
his strength and his freedom. 'Bang!' went the 'Mel- 
ik's' 12^-pounder and the boat quivered to her back- 
bone. 'God save our Gracious Queen/ hymned the 
Guards' band — 'bang!' from the 'Melik' — and Sirdar 
and private stood stiff — 'bang !' — to attention, every hand 



9<3 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

at the helmet peak in — 'bang!' — salute. The Egyptian 
flag had gone up at the same instant ; and now, the same 
ear-smashing, soul-uplifting bangs marking time, the 
band of the nth Sudanese was playing the Khedivial 
Hymn. 'Three cheers for the Queen !' cried the Sirdar ; 
helmets leaped in the air, and the melancholy ruins woke 
to the first wholesome shout of all these years. Then 
the same for the Khedive. The comrade flags stretched 
themselves lustily, enjoying their own again; the bands 
pealed forth the pride of country; the twenty-one guns 
banged forth the strength of war. Thus, white men and 
black, Christian and Moslem, Anglo-Egypt set her seal 
once more, for ever, on Khartum. 

"Before we had time to think such thoughts over to 
ourselves, the Guards were playing the Dead March in 
'Saul.' Then the black band was playing the march 
from Handel's 'Scipio,' which in England generally goes 
with 'Toll for the Brave' ; this was in memory of those 
loyal men among the Khedive's subjects who could have 
saved themselves by treachery, but preferred to die with 
Gordon. Next fell a deeper hush than ever, except for 
the solemn minute guns that had followed the fierce sa- 
lute. Four chaplains — Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, 
and Methodist — came slowly forward and ranged them- 
selves, with their backs to the palace, just before the 
Sirdar. The Presbyterian read the Fifteenth Psalm. 
The Anglican led the rustling whisper of the Lord's 
Prayer. Snowhaired Father Brindle, best beloved of 
priests, laid his helmet at his feet, and read a memorial 
prayer bareheaded in the sun. Then came forward the 
pipers and wailed a dirge, and the Sudanese played 
'Abide with me.' Perhaps lips did twitch just a little to 
see the ebony heathens fervently blowing out Gordon's 
favorite hymn ; but the most irresistible incongruity 
would hardly have made us laugh at that moment. And 
there were those who said the cold Sirdar himself could 



FIRE AND SWORD 99 

hardly speak or see, as General Hunter and the rest 
stepped out according to their rank and shook his hand. 
What wonder? He has trodden this road to Khartum 
for fourteen years, and he stood at the goal at last. 

"Thus with Maxim-Nordenfeldt and Bible* we 
buried Gordon after the manner of his race." 

After the battle of Omdurman, there still re- 
mained an extensive military task to be perform- 
ed in pacifying other sections of the Sudan in 
which the Mahdi power continued to assert itself. 
The Khalifa, who had fled from Omdurman just 
before Kitchener entered the city, withdrew to 
the south. For a time he was ignored, but about 
a year later Colonel Sir R. Wingate led a force 
against him. After repelling a furious attack by 
the Khalifa's men in the dark morning hours, the 
expedition gained a complete victory. The Kha- 
lifa Abdulla and his leading Emirs, including the 
second Khalifa, Ali Wad Helu, seeing that all 
hope was lost, calmly seated themselves on their ism. 
sheep-skins and awaited death. Shortly before 
this, the only other Khalifa had been shot, having 
been found guilty of preaching Mahdism, al- 
though he had been released on parole. 

Another extremely important task which re- 
quired to be pushed after the overthrow of the 
Mahdi power, was the completion of the rail- 
road. Reference has already been made to the 
development of railways in the Sudan. 

A joint government for the Sudan was agreed 

♦That is, "with military honors and Christian ceremony." 



End of Mahd- 



IOO SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

to by Great Britain and Egypt. The two flags 
fly side by side upon all government buildings. 
The supreme military and civil command in the 
Sudan is vested in a "Governor-General of the 
Sudan" who is appointed by Khedivial Decree on 
joint Govern- the recommendation of Great Britain. Lord 

ment. 

Kitchener was the first to hold this office, but 
upon his recall to South Africa in 1899, Sir Regi- 
nald Wingate became Sirdar and Governor-Gen- 
eral. There are no foreign consuls or consular 
agents and the Capitulations x which are such a 
sore trial in Egypt, do not extend to the Sudan. 

It would require a separate volume to narrate 
all that has been accomplished during the decade 
and a half that have elapsed since the Sudan was 
opened up by Kitchener's forces. As yet the 
work of the Government is chiefly that of laying 
foundations for future development. Hbw 
greatly and how rapidly Great Britain's policy in 
the Sudan has developed the material resources 
of the country may be judged by comparing the 
annual revenues of the Sudan at intervals of five 
years : 

1898 $175,000 

1003 2,315,000 

1908 4,875,000 

1912 6,875,000 

The following extract from Kitchener's Report 

*See "Egypt and the Christian Crusade," by Watson, page 
87-88. 



FIRE AND SWORD IOI 

to Parliament in May, 191 2, bears upon the pro- 
gress made in the Sudan : 

"Prior to the Dervish conquest of the country, the 
number of inhabitants amounted approximately to nine 
millions. The fanatical rule of the Mahdi and his suc- 
cessor, with the wars, disease, and starvation which it R eC ent Ad- 
brought in its train, reduced this number to considerably vances. 
under two millions. To-day the population may be es- 
timated at well over three millions, a rapid and satisfac- 
tory increase, due to the peaceful conditions now pre- 
vailing and the resulting increase in the prosperity of the 
people. The children born under our rule will them- 
selves shortly become parents. Moreover, from all the 
surrounding parts of Africa a constant stream of immi- 
grants, attracted by the peaceful and prosperous condi- 
tion of the Sudan, is entering the country. It appears 
to me, therefore, justifiable to expect that in the next 
five years the population will have attained some six 
millions and have thus doubled the present total. It will 
be the duty of the Government to look after the wel- 
fare of all who live under their rule, so that they may 
live in peace and prosperity. 

"When we conquered the Sudan there was hardly a 
single inhabitant who possessed any money, and, with the 
exception of the fighting men, the whole population was 
practically starving. Nothing, I think, strikes one more 
in revisiting the Sudan to-day than the great increase 
which has taken place in the individual prosperity of its 
inhabitants. This increased prosperity, which is the re- 
sult of careful administration, has been so equally di- 
vided throughout the entire population that it is not too 
much to say that there is now hardly a poor man in the 
Sudan. Unlike the Egyptian fellaheen the Sudan cul- 
tivators are not bound down by debts, and have not 



102 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

therefore to struggle to meet the exorbitant interest of 
the usurers, who prey upon this class in Egypt. In the 
Sudan the benefits of peace have been fully reaped by the 
cultivators, and the increased facilities of communica- 
tion have brought markets hitherto undreamt of to their 
doors. The development of the rich products of the 
country has been carefully fostered, and a golden har- 
vest has thus been brought in which remained in the 
country. It is therefore not surprising that the people 
are contented, happy and loyal. When expressions of 
this happiness and contentment are heard, it is satisfac- 
tory to feel that they are not merely word painting for 
the benefit of the rulers of the country, but are based, 
as the people themselves maintain, on solid facts." 

It is well to remember that these results have 
not been achieved by chance. They are, on the 
one hand, the result of a science of government 
which is itself largely a product of Christianity 
and Christian civilization. They are the result, 
on the other hand, of the devoted and self-sacri- 
ficing labors of officials, among whom many may 
be found who are animated by a high sense of 
duty and by motives of unselfishness and even of 
loyalty to a Divine Lord. These forces are there- 
fore to be recognized and to be correlated har- 
moniously, wherever possible, with all other 
forces which labor for the establishment of the 
Kingdom of God. There are points at which out- 
side influences and political traditions may in- 
fluence governmental policy in directions that a 
Christian public may not approve of. For ex- 



FIRE AND SWORD IO3 

ample, it is not likely that the British or Ameri- 
can Christian public will ever become reconciled 
to the teaching of the Koran in Gordon College, 
founded in memory of that Christian hero, nor to 
that institution being in session on the Christian Attitudes. 
Sabbath though closed on Friday, the Moslem 
day. Nevertheless where such differences of 
opinion exist, it is important to do four things : 
(a) Distinguish between a governmental policy 
and the officials of a Government ; approving the 
latter, if not agreeing to the former, (b) Recog- 
nize generously the important service which the 
existence of an established government: renders 
to missionary activity, (c) Appreciate the great 
difficulties and limitations under which is car- 
ried on the government of a country that is un- 
developed as to its resources, non-self-supporting 
as to its administrative expenses and subject in 
part to a non-Christian country, (d) Finally, re- 
member and practise the 'Christian doctrine of 
"forbearance in love" remembering always the 
spirit of the apostle's injunction to "honor the 
king." 



CHAPTER IV 



The People 



"Our cry is out of the depths; we belong to the 
submerged millions of the race; our existence has been 
shrouded in darkness for centuries. We have long 
dwelt in ignorance and misery, the slaves of unhappy 
destiny, banished from the world's light, and strangers 
to the world's civilization." 

— James S. Dennis. 

"Can you conceive of anything more fatal, more 
monstrous, more immoral than a doctrine which de- 
clares men lost without Christ, and then refuses to 
make Him known to them?" 

— Robert E. Speer. 



IV 

THE PEOPLE 

IMAGINE a tourist following the Nile, as 
he seeks to enter the Sudan. In Egypt 
he makes his acquaintance first with the 
Delta Egyptian. He moves southward 
slowly and while his map tells him he still is in 
Egypt, he is aware that new physical character- 
istics mark the inhabitants of the land. They 
are still Egyptians but the skin is darker, the 
nose is flatter. He pushes on past the First 
Cataract ; his ear tells him that a new language is 
being spoken, and here again new physical fea- 
tures appear; this is Nubia and these are Nu- 
bians. 

So far, however, he has noted but few marked 
changes and has met only two distinct types and 
he has traveled almost one thousand miles up the 
Nile. But now he is on the borders of the Su- 
dan. Let him still follow the Nile. He travels 
now seven hundred miles by river to the Atbara 
junction, but even in this shorter journey his 
guide has spoken to him at intervals, eleven 
times in all, saying: 

107 



IOS SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

"These are Berabra. " 

"But these are Gararish." 

"And these again are Danagla." 

"These, however, are Shaigia." 

"And these are Monasir." 

"These are Robatab." 

"But these are Angariab." 

"These however are Hagab." 

"And these are Merifab." 

"And these are Fadlab." 

"But those are Besharin." 

The tourist is impressed, but is he any wiser? 

He turns to an official work. In it he finds 
twelve pages bearing almost a hundred and fifty 
TribeT ty ° different tribal names. In the Bahr el Ghazal 
Province alone, he reads that there are Dinkas 
and Bongos, Nyam Nyams and Golos, Ndoggos 
and Kreich, Mandallas and Mittus, Wiras and 
Madis. Bewildered, perplexed, he asks, "But 
who are these people? Where do they come 
from? Are they all of one race? Do they have 
a common language? What is their history?" 

To these questions, who will give an answer? 
Shall we classify races by complexion or color of 
skin? But note how certain racial features ap- 
pear with different colors of skin. Or shall we 
classify by tribal markings upon the face? But 
here are individuals of another race adopted into 
a given tribe through slavery or intermarriage. 
Or shall we depend upon tribal traditions and 



THE PEOPLE > 109 

language characteristics? This may be the saf- 
est method to follow, but who will attempt the 
desired classification of these tribes, when their 
languages have not yet been reduced to writing, 
nor the grammatical structure of these languages 
been analyzed, nor their traditions recorded? It 
seems a hopeless task and you feel like falling 
back upon a crude and yet generally satisfactory 
division of the country into two main divisions: 
(a) Northern Sudan, where dwells the Arab, ^an^south- 
brown of skin, with aquiline nose, Moslem as to ern Sudan - 
religion, Arabic-speaking; (b) Southern Sudan, 
where lives the Negroid, black of skin, flat nosed, 
pagan or Animist as to religion, with Negro dia- 
lects peculiar to each tribe. 

Yet there are those who have gone into the sub- 
ject more deeply as Crowfoot x in "The Anglo- 
Egyptian Sudan," and Diedrich Westermann 2 in 
"The Shilluk People," and Sir Harry Johnston 
in "The Nile Quest." 

In Northern Sudan, then, we deal chiefly with 
the Arab, with an Arab civilization, with the 
Mohammedan religion and with the Arabic lan- 
guage. In many respects this part of the Sudan 
may be regarded as an extension of Upper Egypt. 
For this reason a detailed description will not be 
necessary. It was Northern Sudan that was the 
chief scene of action for the events connected 
with the Mahdi rebellion and it was Northern 

1 See Appendix, V. 



110 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Sudan therefore that was most affected by those 
ruinous experiences. Yet it is Northern Sudan 
that is now in closest touch with Egypt and civ- 
ilization, and that is reaping the first benefits of 
the Anglo-Egyptian administration. 

In this part of the Sudan lies the seat of gov- 
ernment. Khartum, the capital, is at the junc- 
tion of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and has 
tSST of^wth a population of 18,235. Across the White Nile, 
to the northwest, lies Omdurman, the capital of 
the old Mahdi kingdom, with a population that 
still numbers 42,799. Across the Blue Nile, to 
the northeast, is Khartum North (sometimes 
called Halfaiyah) the site of Government work- 
shops and for a time the railroad terminus, with 
a population of 34,381. Government service has 
brought into these three cities some 1,734 Euro- 
peans and 2,662 others who are foreigners to the 
Sudan, for the most part young Egyptians. The 
latter, many of them Christians, form an impor- 
tant base for Christian missionary effort. In 
Northern Sudan, the most important, commerci- 
ally, as well as the most extensive occupation is 
that of agriculture, and the Government is en- 
couraging the people in better methods of culti- 
vation as well as in the cultivation of crops of 
higher value, such as cotton. Next to the cul- 
tivation of the land is the raising of cattle, for 
which so large a portion of Northern Sudan is 
alone adapted. 



THE PEOPLE III 

Southern Sudan. 

'It is not the purpose of this book to attempt a 
general description of all the southern regions of 
the Sudan, for generalizations would not be at all 
accurate and detailed descriptions would require 
too much space. Special interest, however, at- 
taches to the Sobat region and some brief account 
will be attempted of conditions along that river. 
The Sobat River joins the White Nile at 9° 22" 
north latitude and flows for the most part in a 
westerly (slightly northwesterly) direction. For 
some 300 miles of its course before it empties 
into the White Nile, the Sobat River meanders 
through an immense alluvial grassy plain almost 
as flat and as level as a board. For the most £ r J b | s ob £j! ong 
part the river is 150 to 300 yards wide, with water 
of a reddish yellow color in flood time, and a 
current of from two and a half to three miles an 
hour in flood time (only one mile February- 
May). From the mouth of the Sobat, for some 
30 or 40 miles up the river, the country is inhab- 
ited by Shilluks. Then appear Dinka villages 
and these extend for some 40 miles, when a small 
section of Anuaks occupy some 25 miles of the 
river bank. Then appear the warlike and impor- 
tant tribes of the Nuers. Beyond the Nuers, 
there appear again representatives of the Anuak 
tribes, but this is in territory which lies outside of 



1 



112 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

the Egyptian Sudan and across the Abyssinian 
boundary. 

i The Shilluks. 1 

In his prophecy concerning Ethiopia, Isaiah 
speaks of "a people tall and smooth, a people ter- 
rible from their beginning onward!" The Shil- 
luks may be regarded as fulfilling this descrip- 
tion with wonderful literalness. The average 
height is 5 feet 10 inches. Many of them natur- 
ally exceed six feet or six feet and a half. It may 
be admitted that they are "terrible from their 
Terribi£/' le beginning onward," in reality because of the 
bravery which they exhibit on the battlefield, and 
in appearance because of a custom which makes 
them hideous and terrifying: they frequently 
smear the whole body with ashes or cover them- 
selves with pulverized brick, drawing lines 
across the face. They commonly remove the four 
front lower teeth which makes even the young 
look old or odd. Their tribal marks are three, 
four or five rows of dots across the forehead. 

Most striking of all, however, are the head 
dresses of the men. The hair is woven or twisted 
into a solid felt, kept further in shape by mix- 
tures of gum, mud or even cow-dung, and molded 
into the shape of a huge saucer, or of a single 
horn bent forward, or in separate points standing 
out like the spokes of a wheel. The hair of the 

1 Tb.is is the Arabic form of the name and ie the one most 
commonly used ; another form is SJiulla. 



THE PEOPLE 113 

face, even to the eyebrows, is ordinarily pulled 
out, heightening the weirdness of their appear- 
ance. When missionary work was first undertak- 
en on the Sobat River, there was practically no 
clothing worn save by the married women. Mrs. 
Giffen has given the following description of a 
woman's costume: 

"First of all there is a small apron. This is a 
piece of coarse cloth — originally white — about two feet 
long and eighteen inches wide. It is made of two thick- costumes, 
nesses, and it is tied by strings fastened to two corners 
around the waist, but just below the abdomen, and falls 
down to the knees. 

"Then there are two skins, of sheep, goat, calf, ga- 
zelle or whatever it may be, tanned with the hair on, and 
worn with the hair side out. One of these is tied around 
the waist, using one fore leg and one hind leg for the 
strings to tie with. The tail and the other two legs — or 
the skin of them — dangle and flap around the legs as or- 
naments. Indeed these are sometimes ornamented with 
beads, brass or iron rings. This skin is tied in front 
so as to show the white (?). apron underneath. 

"The other skin is worn on the upper part of the 
body. The fore and hind legs on one side are fastened 
together at their very tips ; this is then slipped over the 
head, the legs of the skin thus tied together resting on 
the right shoulder, and the other side passing under the 
left arm. This is the full dress of a woman. Of course, 
in addition to this they may wear as many beads and 
other ornaments as they can afford; strings of beads 
around the waist, neck, and arms, and armlets of brass ; 
sometimes as many as ten or twelve brass or iron rings, 
weighing several pounds, and extending from the hand 

8 



114 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

half way to the elbow. These are not loose, but drawn 
tight to the flesh and each made fast by the blacksmith." 

The Shilluks are a proud race. They count 
themselves and all they have superior to others 
and all they have, even though the latter be white 
men. Their attitude toward strangers is never 
that of subserviency, but rather of mere tol- 
erance. In going about they usually carry a 
spear and a club, often several. Their haughti- 
ness and independence, perhaps more than any 
other qualities, mark them off from the freedmen 
o>f the United States. They bear a strong re- 
semblance in these respects to the American In- 
dian: at times one might imagine ( ?) himself liv- 
ing in the atmosphere of Fenimore Cooper's In- 
dian tales, with Indians painted black. 

"To give an opinion/' writes Professor West- 

ermann, "on the mental abilities of the natives 

a strong Race. wou ] ( j ; re q U j re a i on g an( j intimate acquaintance 

with them. From, my personal experiences I can 
only say that I feel an admiration for the few 
men who have been working with me during my 
studies. Though we were at work day after day, 
which meant for them a considerable and quite 
unaccustomed mental exertion, they never showed 
any unwillingness but were really interested in 
the work. I consider them an intelligent, quick- 
witted people. This is confirmed by their folk- 
lore. They have a decided sense and predilection 



THE PEOPLE 115 

for historical traditions, being the only black peo- 
ple of the Eastern Sudan who are able to trace ^~ t Govern ' 
back their own history for centuries. The fact 
that they have had, up to the European occupa- 
tion of the country, a kingdom with a well-or- 
dered provincial government shows no doubt cer- 
tain political capabilities." 

"The native house is a circle of wall built of 
mud, about one foot thick and six feet high, and Houses - 
thatched with a cone-shaped roof. The finished 
product has very much the appearance of a well 
built haystack. There are no windows and the 
place of entrance is a small hole about two and 
one-half feet high and two feet wide, and is in 
the shape of a horse collar." 

The following paragraphs descriptive of the 
Shilluks are gathered from Professor Wester- 
mann's valuable treatise, "The Shilluk People: 
Their Language and Folklore." 

Food : "The staple food is durra. It is cooked, 
baked into bread, roasted, brewed: and, when 
green eaten raw. Fire is made by twirling a 
hard stick on a soft piece of wood. Besides durra 
they eat sesame, maize, beans, various grass 
seeds; white ants, when in the winged state, are 
a delicacy to them. Milk is used in the household 
in many ways. As domestic animals are almost 
never slain, meat forms no part of the daily food, 
but is rather an exceptional delicacy, which is 
however sought for with eagerness. Of game 



Il6 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

they hardly leave any piece uneaten, skin and in- 
testines not excepted; they do not even despise 
dead animals. The blood of slain animals is kept 
and cooked, but they do not tap the blood from 
living animals, as is the custom with the Bari 
and Masai. Two chief meals are taken daily ; one 
from nine to ten in the morning, and the second 
at sunset. 

"A large quantity of the durra the people reap 
is used in making merisa or beer." 

Marriage : "When a young man wants to mar- 
Marriage, ry, he himself asks the girl he has selected. If 
she assents, she directs her lover to her parents 
and the old people of the village. If these also do 
not object, they ask him to bring the dowry, 
which consists of cattle. From four to six head 
of oxen and one milch cow is the ordinary price 
for a woman, besides a number of sheep and 
goats. A man cannot reach a social position 
without being married, and he cannot get a wife 
without cattle, so every young Shilluk's highest 
ambition consists in procuring cattle in order to 
buy a wife. A young man may not marry a girl 
from his own division or clan, but only from 
some other division ; the girl may live in the same 
village or in any other village, but they prefer 
to marry in a distant village. These marriage laws 
are a well established tribal custom, and people 
fear to break them, lest death follow marriage. 
The position of woman among the Shilluks is no 



THE- PEOPLE 117 

doubt a higher one than with most Mohammedan 
peoples of the Sudan. She is generally well 
treated and is shown remarkable respect. The 
women sometimes take part in public assemblies 
with the men, discuss the affairs that interest 
them and share in dances and religious cere- 
monies." 

Children: "Affection of parents for their chil- 
dren is not wanting. The mother often places 
the infant in a long basket or bed made of grass ; 
this she carries on her head, or covers it with a 
mat in some safe place, while the child sleeps. 
Education is limited to teaching the children the Care of CM1 
work and skill which the parents command. The dren - 
naming of the children is done by some member 
of the family, in most cases by the parents or 
grandparents. When the boys are from thirteen 
to fifteen years old, they start the cultivation of a 
small field of their own, with the proceeds of 
which they try to acquire cattle. The boys and 
young men of a village born in the same year 
form a companionship, all members of such a 
'class' having a common name. The young men 
of a village do not sleep in their parents' houses, 
but their common sleeping place is the cow-shed 
of the village. The act of sleeping in the barn 
is called 'sleeping in the ashes' from the fact that 
they sleep during this time in the ashes of the 
fire kept smouldering in the barn." 

Burial: "When a grown-up man dies, he is 



Amusements. 



Il8 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

buried in or just before his hut. An ox is killed 
at a funeral feast, and its horns are planted on 
the grave so that they are visible from without. 
Women and children are buried in the bush." 

Amusement: "Their chief amusement is danc- 
ing. The houses of a village are built in a circle, 
having an open place in their midst. Here the in- 
habitants assemble in the evening, stretching 
themselves in the warm ashes or on a skin, or 
squatting on a piece of ambach; several small 
fires of cow dung are kept burning and spread a 
smoke with a pungent odor, which is the best 
protection from mosquito-stings. The events of 
the day are discussed here ; the tobacco pipe and 
merisa pot going from hand to hand. In the 
middle of this open place, the trunk of a large 
tree is erected, in which the drums are suspended. 
With them signals are given in times of danger, 
but more frequently they are used to accompany 
the dances of the young people. These public 
dances are among the greatest events in the lives 
of the young Shilluks ; even old men and women, 
though not taking an active part are highly inter- 
ested in them ; sitting before the huts in front of 
the dancers they constitute a chorus, accompany- 
ing the actions of the younger generation with 
loud acclamations or reproaches. The dances 
generally take place during the dry season ; they 
begin at about four o'clock in the afternoon, or 
in case there is moonlight, later in the evening, 



THE PEOPLE 119 

and last from three to five hours or longer. As a 
rule one village invites its neighbors iby a drum 
signal given in the early morning of the day fixed 
for a dance. On hearing this signal the young 
people show great zeal in preparing their bodies, 
hair-dresses and the ornaments worn on the occa- 
sion. They go to the village in groups or singly, 
men and girls separately. Usually the youths 
perform some war dance in full arms at first, in 
which the girls do not take part; they form a 
large circle in four or in two rows, and while the 
drum is being beaten, they begin dancing and 
singing war songs. The dance consists in jump- 
ing on the toe and at the same time moving 
slowly forward. These rhythmical movements 
are from time to time interrupted by a group of 
dancers violently rushing out of the circle, howl- 
ing and shouting aloud, brandishing their spears 
with fierce looks, and performing mock fights or 
playing pantomimes in which they exhibit very 
remarkable ability. Scenes from hunting, pas- 
toral and agricultural life are represented with 
such a dramatic vividness that they richly de- 
serve the applause they earn. On a signal given, 
clubs and shields are laid aside and put together 
in one place, and now the second part, in which 
the girls share, begins. The latter have, until 
now, been waiting in a separate place, where the 
female onlookers are gathered. Each girl se- 
lects her own dancer. First the men form a cir- 



A War Dance 



120 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

cle again. Then the girls rush into this ring, each 
looking out for the man she intends to favor. 
She draws up in front of him, so that they look 
each other in the face; again two or four rows 
are formed, and the same dance begins anew, ac- 
companied by drumming and singing. The 
dances are in many cases repeated on four suc- 
cessive afternoons or nights; on the fourth day 
they frequently end in quarrels or real fights. 
The cause of this is that the young men of one 
village eye the girls of another village, and thus 
arouse jealousy. In such fights clubs are used; 
in exceptional cases also spears." 

Religion : "In the religion of the Shilluks three 
Religion. components are clearly distinguishable: I. Jwok, 

or God ; 2. Nyikang, the progenitor and national 
hero of the Shilluks ; 3. ajwogo, the witch doctor 
or sorcerer. These three do not exist separate 
from each other, but have many relations with 
one another. There are still other religious ele- 
ments, but they are not so prominent as the three 
mentioned. 

"Jwok is a supreme being, residing above. 
Whether he is regarded as creator is not certain. 
According to the sayings of some natives he 
surely is, but it seems probable that this belief, 
if it exists, is recent, and must be traced to Mo- 
hammedan or Christian influences. On certain 
occasions an ox is killed as a sacrifice to Jwok, 
but according to my information, they have only 



THE PEOPLE 121 

one prayer to J wok, 1 while to Nyikang there are 
many. 'Praying' to Jwok is expressed by a dif- 
ferent word from that which serves for designat- 
ing a prayer to Nyikang; the first is 'Lamo,' 'to 
pray'; its original meaning is, probably, to con- 
jure. In praying to Nyikang 'kwacho,' 'to ask for, 
to beg/ is used. While the prayers to Nyikang 
are sung, and accompanied by dances, the 
one to Jwok is only spoken, not sung, and is not 
accompanied by dancing. Jwok has no visible 
symbols or temples, nor are the prayers to him 
offered by a priest or sorcerer, but by the chief 
or village elder. 

"In the heart and mind of the Shilluk, Jwok 
does not possess a clearly defined rank. In some 
way they do attribute good and evil to him, and 
chiefly the latter. When a person is ill, they may 
say, 'Ere Jwok,' 'Why Jwok?' The sudden and 
violent death of a man is regarded as being caus- 
ed by Jwok. 

"The tradition of the origin of man or rather 
of the Shilluks leads to the second and most im- origin of Man. 
portant part of the religious practice of the peo- 
ple, viz. : the worship of Nyikang. This tradition 
runs thus : A white or rather greyish cow, Dean 
Aduk, came out of the river ; she brought forth a 
gourd ; when this gourd split, a man and animals 
came forth out of it. The name of this man was 
Kolo; Kolo begat Omaro, who begat Wat Mol 

*See Appendix VI. 



122 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

('son of Mol') ; Wat Mol begat Okwa. Okwa 
used to go to the riverside ; here he met repeat- 
edly two maidens who had come from out the 
water, they were very beautiful and had long 
hair, but the lower part of their bodies was in 
form like a crocodile. One day Okwa seized the 
girls and carried them away. Their screams 
brought their father, who, until now, had not 
been seen by Okwa. His face and the left side 
of his body were human like, but his right side 
was of a green color and had the form of a croc- 
odile. When asked, he declared his name to be 
Odiljil; he protested against his daughters being 
taken away by force, but afterwards consented. 
Okwa married the girls. The names of the two 
maidens were Nyakayo and Ongwat. One of 
Nyakayo's sons was Nyikang. 

"Between Nyikang and one of his brothers, 
there arose a quarrel after their father's death. 
Nyikang left the country, seeking for a new 
abode. Several tribes whom he met on his way, 
joined him, thus increasing the band of his fol- 
lowers. Nyikang settled about the mouth of the 
Sobat, and here founded the Kingdom of the 
Shilluks. To increase the population of his new 
kingdom, he changed animals and fabulous be- 
ings whom he found in the place, into men, built 
villages for them, and made them his subjects. 

"While residing in the Shilluk country, Nyi- 



THE- PEOPLE 123 

kang fought many wars, among others one 
against the Sun and his son. 

"When he felt his end approaching, he assem- 
bled all the chiefs of his kingdom for a splendid 
festival. While all were merry, suddenly a great 
wind arose and scattered all those present. At 
this moment Nyikang took a cloth, wound it 
tightly around his neck, and thus choked him- 
self. * 

"But many Shilluks firmly believe that Nyi- 
kang is still alive. The Rev. Mr. Oyler writes to worship of 

Nyikang. 

me : 'When I asked how Nyikang died, they were 
filled with amazement at my ignorance and stoutly 
maintained that he never died.' If he dies, all the 
Shilluks will die. He, Dak, and five other kings 
ascended to heaven, where Nyikang prays for 
the Shilluks (?). They say that he disappeared 
as the wind. 

"Nyikang is the ancestor of the Shilluk nation 
and the founder of the Shilluk dynasty. He is 
worshipped; sacrifices and prayers are offered 
to him. He may be said to be lifted to the rank 
of a demi-god', though they never forget that he 
has been a real man. He is expressly designated 
as 'little' in comparison with God. In almost 
every village, there is a little hut dedicated to 
Nyikang. 

"The third factor in the religion of the Shil- 
luks is the Ajwogo, and what is connected with 
him. Ajwogo is the witch doctor or sorcerer; the 



124 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



The Witch 
Doctor. 



Folklore. 



word is probably derived from 'Jwok,' 'God/ and 
would then mean 'one who is dependent on God' 
or 'who has to do with God.' As some of them 
undertake to procure rain, Europeans generally 
call them all Tain-makers.' Each is a mediator 
between the people and Nyikang; he leads the 
dances and prayers to Nyikang, and presides at 
the sacrificial ceremonies. He heals also sick- 
nesses by administering charms. Sick people ap- 
ply to him with the present of a sheep or goat, 
or even an ox ; the animal is killed, and the con- 
tents of its stomach are laid on a sick person's 
body ; or the skin of the animal is cut into strips 
and these are fastened below the knee of the pa- 
tient. This is also applied as a protection against 
dangers on a journey. When in the dry season 
the cattle are brought across the river, the sor- 
cerer has to prepare charms to protect them from 
being seized by crocodiles. Besides this, he is 
able to perform miracles, to kill a man by witch- 
craft, to prevent rain, and to cause the cattle to be 
barren." 

Folklore: Professor Westermann has rendered 
a service of inestimable value in bringing to- 
gether a large number of stories representing 
what may be called the oral literature, history, 
ritual, songs, proverbs of the Shilluks. There is 
a superficial tendency to depreciate the intellec- 
tual or religious life of peoples that have no writ- 
ten language, but the material which Professor 




o 



THB PEOPLE 125 

Westermann has brought together makes an ar- 
ray of interesting oral records that forbid an at- 
titude of contempt for even the pagan Shilluk. 1 

Their Country : It is important to note that the 
Shilluks along the Sobat form a very small part 
of the Shilluk people. They inhabit chiefly the 
land on the west bank of the Nile from Kaka in 
the north to Lake No in the south. They are "the 
only people in the Sudan who acknowledge one 
head as immediate ruler." 

The Dinkas 2 

"The Dinkas along -the Sobat are shy and sus- 
picious, but amenable to kindness and trade. They 
have been worsted in the frequent forays of the Tne Dinkas. 
more powerful Nuers into their district. They 
complain bitterly of the spoliation of their herds 
by the Nuers, and state that many of their chil- 
dren now growing into manhood as Nuers, were 
torn from them in the constant raids of the Nuer 
tribe. The Dinkas, in spite of this alleged op- 
pression, own large numbers of sheep, goats, and 
cattle. The Dinkas on the Sobat are far more in- 
telligent and energetic than their kinsmen on the 
White Nile, and cultivate sufficient grain and to- 
bacco for their own needs." 



1 See Appendix VII. 

2 The brier descriptive sections which follow are largely- 
taken from "The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan," in which are de- 
scribed the tribes along the Sobat. 



126 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



The Anuaks. 



The Anuaks. 



"The Anuaks occupy some 25 to 30 miles of the 
river bank as far as the village of Wegin, which is 
the boundary between them and the Nuer tribe. 
The different tribes hereabouts are considerably 
intermingled, as they appear to intermarry to a 
large extent, and Anuaks may be found living 
amongst the Nuers even as far east as Nasser. 
Their position would not, however, appear to be a 
very enviable one, as the men are more or less 
slaves of the Nuers, and are called upon to per- 
form household and menial duties for their more 
powerful neighbors ; at the same time the Anuaks 
appear to have no fear of entering Nuer territory. 

"This section of the Anuaks is a small and un- 
important one ; in general appearance they closely 
resemble the Nuers. They appear to grow very 
little food, barely more than sufficient for their 
own requirements, but at the same time have 
flocks of sheep and goats and a few herds of cat- 
tle." 



The A 7 tiers. 



The Nuers. 



"The Nuers are by far the most powerful 
and numerous tribe living along the Sobat river. 
Originally they appear, from native accounts, to 
have occupied tracts of country south of the So- 
bat in the neighborhood of Bor and the Bahr el 



THE PEOPLE 127 

Ghazal, but these sections trekked north, and 
ousted the weaker tribes living on the Sobat, and 
occupied their country. The Falangs and Bon- 
jaks no longer exist, their territory being occu- 
pied by the Nuers. There appear to be three sep- 
arate factions of Nuers at the present day occu- 
pying the Sobat valley, who, if native accounts 
are to be believed, are more or less at. enmity with 
each other, owing to family disagreements. 

"Although the huts and villages of the Nuers 
hereabouts are well and substantially built, the 
natives themselves are shy, suspicious, indolent 
and altogether a very low type of humanity. They 
appear to cultivate only such small plots of ground 
in the immediate vicinity of their villages as will 
suffice for their own requirements for perhaps six 
months in the year, whilst during the remainder 
of the year they live chiefly on fish, which, exist- 
ing in great quantities, are easily speared during 
the dry season of the year. 

"Physically, the men are tall and well-built, but 
show few signs of muscular development, being: 
generally long-limbed and wiry. They are all pearanee. 
stark naked, and cover themselves from head to 
foot with cow dung ashes, which gives them a 
particularly filthy appearance and renders their 
skin extremely rough and coarse. They make no 
attempt to adorn themselves, but are extremely 
anxious to procure brass wire with which to make 
for themselves bracelets extending from the wrist 



128 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

to near the elbow. This seems to be about their 
only vanity. They are all armed with spears, of 
which every man carries two or three. Their 
weapon of defense consists of an oval-shaped buf- 
falo hide shield. Bows and arrows they do not 
appear to possess. 

"The elder married women are as filthy as the 
men in appearance. They all, however, wear a 
leather apron or skin fastened round their waists. 
The younger girls and unmarried women wear no 
such covering, and, like the men, are quite naked. 

"The right bank of the Sobat near Nasser Post 
is densely populated as far as the junction of the 
Sobat and Pibor rivers, there being several large 
and important villages such as Kwoinlualtong, 
Taufot, and Ajungmir in addition to the smaller 
ones. The left bank of the Sobat is not inhabited, 
as from Nasser to the Pibor a considerable por- 
tion of the country is inundated when the rivers 
are full." 



CHAPTER V 



The Day Breaks 



"A great and strong wind .... after the 
wind an earthquake .... after the earthquake a 
fire .... after the fire a still small voice." 

— I Kings 19: 11, 12 

"No man has done all he ought to do, until he has 
done all he can do." 

"And when the strife is fierce, the battle long, 
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, 
And hearts are brave again and arms are strong. 
Alleluia !" 

— Sir Joseph Bamby. 



V 
THE DAY BREAKS 

PRACTICALLY the only form of Christian 
missionary effort in the Egyptian Su- 
dan before the Mahdi was that of the 
Roman Catholics who had work at 
both Khartum and Kordofan. Their mission- 
aries were caught in that awful storm of fanati- 
cism and rebellion that swept the country in 1881 
and the years that followed, and the story of 
their sufferings and of the final escape of some of 
them is dramatically told by their leader, Father Missions. lst 
Ohrwalder, in his "Ten Years' Captivity in the 
Mahdi's Camp." The British and Foreign Bible 
Society also made a beginning of missionary work 
in 1866, but the work continued only a short time, 
and thirty-two years passed before it was taken 
up again. 

With the re-conquest of the Sudan by Kitch- 
ener, it became possible once more to enter the 
Sudan with safety, and the Roman Catholics un- 
dertook to reoccupy their abandoned field so far 
as possible. Two missionary agencies represent- 
ing Protestant Christian Churches also entered 
the Sudan, — the Church Missionary Society of 
Great Britain and the American (United Presby- 

131 



132 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

terian) Mission. The British and Foreign Bible 
Society and the American Bible Society also pro- 
jected the leavening influences of the distribu- 
tion of the Scriptures into the newly opened ter- 
ritory. 

In Northern Sudan, where the population is 
chiefly Moslem, the Government forbade at first 
all missionary work among Mohammedans, but, 
after some extended public criticism and agitation 
in England, changed the policy to the extent of 
Government. permitting educational and medical work under 
certain conditions and restrictions. 1 On the other 
hand, the Government encouraged work among 
the pagans of Southern Sudan and assigned, 
broadly, certain spheres of activity to the three 
missionary agencies named : to the Roman Cath- 
olics, the west bank of the White Nile with Lul, 
near Kodok, for a center ; to the Church Mission- 
ary Society the Bahr el Ghazal district with Ma- 
lek as a center ; and to the Americans, the Sobat 
watershed, with Doleib Hill as the first station. 

The following is a brief official statement of 
the development of the work of the Church Mis- 
sionary Society in the Egyptian Sudan : 

"After Gordon's death at Khartum, in 
1885, a Gordon Memorial Fund was open- 
ed and soon after the defeat of the Kha- 
lifa's forces, Omdurman (1899) and Khar- 
tum (1900) were occupied, under some re- 

a See Appendix VIII. 



THE DAY BREAKS 1 33 

strictions, however, as to evangelistic efforts. 
Atbara was occupied in 1908. In 1905, the So- 
ciety was invited by Lord Cromer and the Sir- 
dar to commence work in the southern part of the 
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and Malek was occu- 
pied in the following year. 1 

"Egypt is included in the jurisdiction of the 
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. An Assistant 
Bishop, the Right Rev. LI. H. Gwynne, conse- 
crated in 1908, resides at Khartum. 

"No baptisms have yet (1912) taken place at 
Malek, but the confidence of the Dinkas has been church mis- 

f • • sionary Soci- 

won and the light is gradually entering their ety. 
hearts. Accustomed as they have been for ages 
to animal sacrifices, they can the better under- 
stand the propitiation through the blood of Christ, 
but while they know right from wrong, they are 
lacking in any sense of sin. They are a kindly 
folk; women are not despised, and a marriage 
ceremony is observed, but immorality is common. 
Classes for reading are conducted among the 
sixty men and boys employed in gardening and 
other forms of industrial work about the station, 
and a dispensary is held daily with an average of 
fourteen attendances. In February, 1912, the 
Revs. C. A. Lea-Wilson and K. E. Hamilton went 
to Lau (west-north-west of Malek) to open new 
work, the Rev. A. Shaw accompanying them on 
their journey/' 

*See Appendix I. 



134 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

The American Mission. 

In the Sudan, as in Egypt, the name by which 
the work of the United Presbyterian Church of 
North America is known, is "The American Mis- 
sion." It is suggestive of the fact that such work 
is to be thought of as a missionary effort which 
aims to carry to a non-Christian world the full, 
rich content of our American Protestant Christi- 
anity. The native Church also that becomes or- 
Sission mellcan ganized as a result of these missionary labors is 
known as the "Evangelical Church." This name, 
too, suggests that the Church which it is sought 
to establish is to have as its chief characteristic 
adherence to Scriptural truth. The history of the 
founding of this Mission and Church in the 
Egyptian Sudan is a record full of interest. 

In the early days of the (Mission in Egypt, the 
possibility of developing a mission in the Sudan 
had been talked about. It was hoped that the 
young native Church, being developed in Egypt, 
might some day be taught to claim the Sudan as 
its foreign -field. No action, however, was taken. 
In 1883, the United Presbyterian Church in 
America was offered some $25,000 through the 
American Missionary Association, if it would 
open up work along the upper reaches of the Nile 
toward Central Africa. 

At this time the Egyptian Sudan was wholly 
closed to all missionary effort; furthermore cer- 



THE DAY BREAKS I35 

tain conditions were attached to the offer which 
led the Church to decline it. In 1899, with 
the opening up of the Sudan by Kitchener, the 
question presented itself anew and more insistent- 
ly. The death of Gordon at Khartum had moved 
hearts in America as well as in England. An ad- 
ditional motive, if not an irresistible argument, 
presented itself in the emigration to the Sudan 
of a large number of young Egyptians in Gov- 
ernment employ, who had been trained in mis- 
sion schools or were even members of the native 
Evangelical Church in Egypt. It seemed a 
Christian duty to follow them up in the new 
fields to which they had removed and to provide 
somewhat for their spiritual needs. 

Yet the Church in America hesitated. And is 
not the establishment of a new Mission an ex- chuiSi U poiicy. 
tremely responsible step? Is there not such a 
thing as attempting too much ? The Church had 
had at one time five foreign mission fields and 
had adopted a policy of concentration, limiting 
itself to two, — Egypt and India. Should it now 
reverse that policy ? Or had its strength now in- 
creased, so that with safety a new burden could 
be assumed? Or should a policy of faith rather 
than of cold calculation determine the decision? 
If so, by what sign or signs might a waiting 
Church discover the will of its Lord ? 

Meanwhile four questions were addressed to 
the Mission in Egypt concerning the proposed 



136 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

advance in the Sudan. These questions and the 
replies which were given to them were much as 
follows : 

First, Is the way open for entrance into the 
Sudan? Not just now, but it promises to ibe 
soon. 1 

Second, Could an experienced missionary be 
spared from Egypt to open a mission in the Su- 
dan ? Yes, but his place would need to be filled. 

Third, What would be the estimated cost for 
the first year? Twenty-five hundred dollars. 

Fourth, Does the Mission in Egypt recommend 
any advance? This is a question for the Church 
in America, not for the Mission in Egypt, to an- 
swer, for, given the resources, the work may be 
safely undertaken. 

Yet the Church hesitated. A discretionary 
sio I was es- s " power was given to the Board to act in the light 
of subsequent developments. Then came the 
"sign" which guided the United Presbyterian 
Church into the Sudan. The Board learned 
through the Rev. George D. Mathews, D. D., of 
London, that "a Society known as the Freed- 
men's Missions Aid Society of that city, was con- 
templating disbanding. It had been organized 
some thirty years before for mission work among 
the freedmen of America and ex-slaves on the 
West Coast of Africa. Its special object was to 
educate men who might ultimately be employed 
in doing mission work in Khartum or among the 










Bird's-Eye View of Khartum. 

The Great Mosque at Khartum. 

Gordon College at Khartum. 



THE DAY BREAKS 1 37 

tribes south of that in Africa. Having come to 
the conclusion that it had accomplished its object 
so far as lay in its power, it was casting around 
to see where it could place the funds remaining in 
its treasury so as to most nearly meet the inten- 
tion of the donors of the same. The result was 
a proposition to transfer its remaining funds to 
the Board on condition that it would expend 
them in mission work in Khartum or that region 
of the Sudan. The proposition seemed so clearly 
providential that it was accepted by the Board, 
and as soon as the transfer could be made there 
came into the treasury the large sum of $9,605.- 
60." Additional amounts were received later. 
For three years the work was carried on practic- 
ally without burden to the Church in America. 

In December, 1899, two members of the Egyp- 
tian Mission were appointed as a Commission to Ffew° nng 
visit the Sudan, study conditions, and report upon 
a policy for the opening up of missionary work. 
The Rev. Andrew Watson, D. D., who had spent 
thirty-eight years in Egypt, and the Rev. J. Kelly 
Giffen, D. D., who had been in Egypt eighteen 
years, were selected for the responsible task. 
Their report is marked by accurate information 
and far-reaching statesmanship. They recom- 
mended establishing a base at Omdurman or 
Khartum, and developing work up the Blue Nile. 
The significance of this recommendation lies in 
the fact that by following the Blue Nile, the Mis- 



First Mission- 



I38 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

sion would be brought most quickly into touch 
with the Abyssinian population, and Abyssinia 
claims allegiance to Coptic Christianity, 1 so that 
it might be hoped that the large and strategic 
work done by the Mission in Egypt could be du- 
plicated among the Abyssinians, especially 
through the agency of enlightened Egyptian 
workers whom the Abyssinians might count as 
brethren. 

In 1900, two missionaries were formally ap- 
pointed to launch the new work in the Sudan: 
the Rev. J. K. Giffen, D. D., and H. T. McLaugh- 
lin, M. D. The native Church appointed its first 
foreign missionary, the Rev. Gebera Hanna. 
Yunan Hanna, one of the most efficient colpor- 
teurs of the American Bible Society, was also en- 
gaged to aid in the new missionary enterprise. 
The arrival of Dr. Giffen at Omdurman on De- 
cember 10, 1900, marks the beginning of the Su- 
dan Mission. At this point, the Government be- 
came a factor radically affecting the missionary 
plans which had been proposed, as may be easily 
inferred from the following letter: 

War Office, Egyptian Army, 
28th October, 1900. 
Sir: 

I have the honor, by desire of the Sirdar, to ac- 
knowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th inst. 
and to acquaint you in reply that he is pleased to sanc- 

>See "Egypt and the Christian Crusade," p. 114. 



THE DAY BREAKS 1 39 

tion Mr. Gebera H'anna and yourself proceeding to Om- 
durman for the purpose of seeing the native Protestant 
community there, to whom your letter refers. 

The Sirdar regrets that he is unable at present to 
entertain your application to procure land at Khartum. 

The Sirdar desires me to say that it must be distinct- 
ly understood that, for the present, permission to con- 
duct mission work amongst the Moslem population of me nt Acts. n 
the Sudan cannot be given. He has, however, no ob- 
jection to your proceeding at your own risk to the non- 
Moslem countries in the White Nile districts. 

I am, dear sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

W. M. May Prin, 
For Civ. Sec. Cairo. 
J. K. Giffen, 

American Mission, Tanta. 

The action of the Government determined the 
development of missionary work along two im- 
portant lines: (a) At Omdurman and in North- 
ern Sudan generally only the most restricted 
forms of missionary work were to be allowed, 
(b) The development of further work must lie 
far to the south along the upper reaches of the 
White Nile. 

Providence, however, had given to the Ameri- 
can missionaries an advantage which was out- 
side the range of governmental prohibitions. 
There could be no objection to such work as min- 
istered to the spiritual needs of native Christians, 
and there were to be found at almost every Gov- 
ernment post, but especially at Khartum and Om- 



140 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

durman, a considerable number of native Chris- 
tians, many of them among the Government's 
most faithful employees. If their spiritual life 
could be maintained, what an uplifting moral and 
spiritual force they might be in the communities 
in which they lived. 

The year 1901 was a year, first of all, of ex- 
ploration with a view to discovering a suitable site 
for the mission station in Southern Sudan among 
the pagan blacks. Imagine yourself sent from 
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania to an undevel- 
oped, uncharted region as far distant as North 
chosen. Hm Dakota, and asked to survey an area almost equal 
to that entire State ! The site now known as Do- 
leib Hill was finally selected by the exploring 
party, and the reasons given for selecting this 
site are as follows : 

"(1) Because it is central as to population, a 
number of villages being within easy reach, both 
on the north and south of the Sobat and east and 
west of the White Nile. 

"(2) As favorable to health. The hill, which is 
several acres in extent, is about twenty-five feet 
above the surrounding land and 150 feet from 
the Sobat River, which is reported as excellent 
water. The hill is also covered with about 150 
large doleib palm trees. 

"(3) The Sobat River affords a waterway out 
from and through the territory it is hereby pro- 
posed to make the field for mission work. 






THE DAY BREAKS I4I 

"(4) It is within easy reach of Taufikiah, which 
is the Government station, steamboat landing and 
postoffice on the White Nile. It thus brings the 
mission station within reach of transport and 
communication." 

Extended negotiations, however, were neces- 
sary before the Government's permission was se- 
cured for the establishment of a mission station 
at the site described, and it was March 27, 1902, 
before the missionaries reached the place and be- 
gan work. It is well worth noticing that adverse 
as the Government's attitude often seemed to be 
toward Christian missions, unfailing personal 
kindness was shown to the missionaries by prac- 
tically all, from the Sirdar down. 

Meanwhile, the work in Northern Sudan was 
pressed as far as loyalty to governmental restric- 
tions would permit. On Sabbath, March 17th, 
1 901, the first communion service was held and 
ten men and two women partook of that sacra- 
ment which serves as an indissoluble link be- 
tween the two comings of our Lord; having a 
backward look in its remembrance of Him Who 
died, and a forward look through its continuous 
observance "till He come." Of course, it was a 
day of small things, and largely of personal work. 
The Sabbath morning meetings at Omdurman, 
Khartum and Khartum North, averaged only an 
attendance of 28 men and 14 women for all three, 
while two night meetings brought 25 men and 2 
women. 



First Services. 



142 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

For the decade which follows (1902-1912) a 
clearer conception of the development of the mis- 
sionary work will be gained if the work in South- 
ern Sudan and that in Northern Sudan be con- 
sidered separately, for these two fields differ so 
radically in almost every respect — language, cli- 
mate, dominant religion, state of civilization, and 
methods of missionary work — that they present 
contrasts rather than resemblances. 

SOUTHERN SUDAN. 

It was on March 4, 1902, that the Rev. J. K. 
at pe Do n ifib W Hm. Giffen, D. D., and Airs. Giffen, and Dr. H. T. Mc- 
Laughlin and Mrs. McLaughlin, left Omdurman 
for the site of the new station along the Sobat. 
It was March 27th when they reached Doleib Hill. 
The journey was made in sailboats. A consider- 
able cargo had to be taken up the river to provide 
both food and furniture for life in a section where 
there were no stores and practically nothing pur- 
chasable. 

"As we proceed up the great river," says Dr. 
Giffen in his book, "The Egyptian Sudan," "the 
change of scenery is very gradual, but there is a 
change. More trees come into view. The flocks 
and herds continue to be almost everywhere in 
evidence, but there is less of the cultivated land, 
and the islands are covered with tall grass. 

"The population becomes more sparse, the 



THE DAY BREAKS I43 

game more plentiful, and great flocks of birds line 
the banks. The crocodiles and the hippopotami 
are a constant source of diversion. You begin to 
realize that there is a gradual change coming over 
the whole prospect and that you are a long way 
from home. Long lines of naked, black savages 
appear on the banks. Standing on one foot, the 
other resting on the knee with leg akimbo, and First Journey 

Described 

leaning the whole body on a spear, they curiously 
gaze for an hour or more while our boat slowly 
and silently pushes by. We return a curious gaze 
and meditate and wonder. 

"Even at night the heavens are not the same 
as you have always known them to be, and the 
stars make you feel you are among strangers 
and give you a lonesome feeling. Generally, 
when one is homesick, the sky at night appears 
like the face of a friend; here it is the face of a 
stranger. The 'Dipper' and the North Star are 
away down on the horizon ; even the 'Milky Way' 
has wandered from its natural place, and a lot of 
new denizens of the sky whom you never saw be- 
fore have moved into the south side. The grunt- 
ing and coughing of the hippopotami, just along- 
side your boat, does not conduce to sleep, but it 
helps you to realize that it is not all a dream." 

Of the sort of welcome that awaited them and 
of their feelings and experiences during the first 
few days, Dr. GifTen drew this graphic picture in 
his address at the Pittsburgh Convention, in 1904 : 



144 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

"We landed there and we were met by these 
savage people. The sail had "been the signal that 
we were coming, and for miles around these black 
neighbors had come out to greet us, or rather to 
meet us, and there they sat on the bank, three to 
five hundred of them. Each man was armed with 
a spear, or a spear and a club, or two spears, or 
Natives 011 by two clubs, and they were all naked. I speak ad- 
visedly, friends, when I say, 'they were all naked.' 
There, my friends, is what I mean. That will re- 
veal it all to you when I tell you that here is a full 
dress suit. (Holding up to the gaze of the audi- 
ence a bead belt, probably half an inch thick and 
two feet long.) 

"We landed and saluted them with our blandest 
smile, but there was no response. We asked them 
to help us remove our goods and place them back 
under the trees, but not a man would move. We 
placed our goods under the trees and dismissed 
our boats, which returned towards Khartum. We 
were there alone — four of us. And maybe that 
night it was lonely ! As these people went off to 
their villages, some distance away, it was lonely ; 
but we had our evening devotions, and made our 
beds under those great trees, and went to sleep 
that night, and slept as peacefully as you will sleep 
here in the heart of this city to-night. And for the 
next six weeks, before we had a house or shelter 
of any kind, these people never once disturbed us, 
and after we had built our houses there was 






THE DAY BREAKS 145 

neither door nor window. Furthermore, our 
goods were at some little distance — the things we 
had brought for barter or provision. Yet we lost 
absolutely nothing from theft. 

"Of course, our first chief thought was to find 
some shelter and protection for ourselves. Al- 
ready the sky was overcast, and every evening 
and night we had thunder and lightning, and we House Buna- 
knew that the rain would soon be here. We ing ' 
would have to find some shelter, so we began, 
first of all, to gather wood for the houses we ex- 
pected to build. We intended to build something 
after the architecture of the country, and the 
house of the country was simply a little circle of 
mud about six feet high, with a small opening 
about two feet or two feet and a half high in the 
side, and a thatch of straw. The door is very 
small, and you must get down on your hands and 
knees if you want to get in, and some of us have 
to go in edgewise. But we had expected to build 
a larger room, with doors and windows. We 
sent out these men — some eight of them — for 
poles. They came back in the evening, and each 
man had a stick of wood about three or four or 
five feet long, and so crooked that it was abso- 
lutely worthless. The second day's work was 
very little better. We busied ourselves in mak- 
ing our camp in those two days, and the day fol- 
lowing was the Sabbath, and we thought, just as 
you and every good United Presbyterian be- 

10 



I46 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

lieves, that we had a right to sleep a little longer 
Sabbath morning than any other ; so we intended 
to have a day of rest. But long before we were 
out of bed they were lifting the curtains of the 
First sabbath. tent an d looking in, and all day long they were 
about us in scores, and when evening came we 
'felt as though we had been to a circus and had 
been the animals and had been looked at all day. 
It was not a day of rest. 

"Monday morning Dr. McLaughlin and I 
concluded that we would build our own houses. 
It had been a long time since we had tramped 
mud in just that way. But we began to make the 
walls. I think we had perhaps two feet of wall 
when they took pity on us and came to us and 
said, 'Old man, we will build for you if you will 
pay us for it.' We said, 'Certainly, we would be 
glad to have you work/ and they went away 
and we didn't expect to see them again. They 
came back again, but on the Sabbath day, and we 
explained to them, This is our day of rest, a day 
sacred to our God ; on this day we do no work.' 
And from that day on we were never troubled 
with regard to work on the Sabbath. They 
counted six days, for they had no days in the 
week, and the seventh day was our rest day. 
They were there for our services and devotions ; 
they were there at all times ; but on the Sabbath 
day they gave us no more trouble with regard to 
the work. 



THE DAY BREAKS 1 47 

"On Monday they came back and 'be- 
gan work at about half past five in the morn- 
ing, and at seven o'clock they were all gone. 
There were perhaps twenty men and twenty wo- 
men, but there was not one of them remained, 
and we never supposed they would come back. 
So through the heat of the day Dr. McLaughlin fef^Na*' 
and I worked away. But about an hour before tlves- 
the sun went down they came back and did about 
an hour's work, and that was all we could secure 
from those people by love or money, threat or 
pleading, during all the time we were making 
those houses, — about three hours a day. I don't 
know whether I ought to mention it or not, but 
they certainly had some sort of labor union 
among themselves, because they were all of one 
mind. Before the rains came we had one house 
finished and the roof on. 

"And here I think I must tell you of our ex- 
perience. It would certainly have been a joyful 
day but for one fact. There was one of our num- 
ber struck with the sun that day. Fever follow- 
ed, typhoid in type, and for months we despaired 
of her life. i 

"When the rainy season was over we called 
these people together again and said to them: 
'Now we are going to build our houses. We 
want to have you help us.' We had conceived 
this thought, that our first work for these poor 
simple people must be a lesson 6f labor, some- 



Native Sim- 
plicity. 



I48 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

thing of the dignity of labor. I believe there can 
be no character without legitimate, profitable la- 
bor — labor that produces something for yourself 
and others. And so we must teach these people 
that lesson. And we told them what we wished. 
But, above all else, we explained that we wanted 
a day's work. 'Yes, sir,' they said, 'we know.' 
But, you know, they didn't. They came to me 
and said, 'Old man, we are going to die.' My 
back aches, and my breast hurts, and my arms 
hurt, and I am going to die.' We knew they 
were not going to die. We had been working 
with them right along day after day, Dr. Mc- 
Laughlin and I, and our lame muscles helped us 
to feel what they expressed in saying, 'We are 
going to die,' but we knew also that the disease 
would heal itself. After two or three weeks it 
was all over; they had learned their lesson, and 
they were the better for it. 

"I might go on indefinitely, telling you of these 
Sfa^MSskfns. poor, simple people, and of the steps we took, 
one after another, to teach them; but I want to 
emphasize this : That we got nearer to them 'be- 
cause we had to deal in this way with these poor, 
simple, black people from the first. Had God 
placed in our hands men who would have done 
the service we required, do you believe that we or 
any missionary would have got down in the mud 
alongside of these black people and worked there 
for days and months? Not at all. I believe that 



THE DAY BREAKS I49 

during the first few weeks we drew the hearts of 
those people to us in a confidence that we might 
have been years in establishing had we had this 
service performed for us. That was Christ's 
way. He humbled Himself that He might get 
into touch with fallen, sinful humanity and lift 
them up. And this is to be your method and 
mine." 



CHAPTER VI 



The Message of Hope 



"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, 

teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel 

of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and 

all manner of sickness." 

— Matthew ix: 35. 

"The efficient missionary is one who will try to 
multiply himself in natives, willing to sink himself from 
activities which might be more fascinating, so that he 
may prepare Africans to do his work and give to them 
something of that spirit which is in himself." 

— Donald Fraser. 



VI 
THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 

MISSIONARY work in Southern Sudan 
has called for the solution of innumer- 
able difficult questions, among them 
such as these: How shall the mis- 
sionary live? What kind of a house shall he f°™ ns Prob " 
build? How can he get the natives to work? 
What diseases are to be guarded against? What 
will be the best food to use ? What may the soil 
produce ? What 'forms of missionary work should 
be used? How approach the study of the lan- 
guage? In almost every case, little help could 
be derived from missionary experience in Egypt. 
Indeed, acquaintance with conditions in Egypt 
was likely to suggest a wrong approach to prob- 
lems. Space does not permit a detailed recital of 
the development of the work at Doleib Hill from 
year to year. We will therefore deal in a topical 
way with the outstanding characteristics of mis- 
sionary life and work at Doleib Hill. 

Missionary Force : Of the Sudan missionaries 
the following have been located ! for a longer or 
shorter period at Doleib Hill : the Rev. J. K. Gif- 
fen, D. D., and Mrs. Giffen, Dr. H. T. McLaugh- 

153 



154 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

lin and Mrs. McLaughlin, the Rev. Ralph Carson 
and Mrs. Carson, Dr. Hugh R. Magill and Mrs. 
Magill, the Rev. Elbert McCreery and Mrs. Mc- 
Creery, Dr. Thos. A. Lambie and Mrs. Lambie, 

Nlme d naries Mr - R - w - Tidrick and Mrs. Tidriek, Mr. C B. 
Guthrie and Mrs. Guthrie, Rev. D. S. Oyler and 
Mrs. Oyler. It is not possible to indicate the dif- 
fering services which have been rendered to the 
cause by the distinctive labors of these men and 
women. Their labors are built into the life and 
history of Doleib Hill, but there is One who can 
give to each the comforting assurance, "I know 
thy works." 

Nor may the forces that serve the Kingdom 
be limited to the labors of adults. When the 
Rev. Mr. Carson and Mrs. Carson went to the 
Sudan their family included little Erskine, just 
two years old. The Shilluks had seen white men 

a child Leads. b e f orej more rarely white women, but never a 
white child. From all sides, for miles, they came 
to the Mission compound to see the little white 
baby. As he grew and learned to run and play, 
they took delight in watching him. The big chief 
came to see him. One day his mother was draw- 
ing him in a little express cart. The wheels 
struck some obstruction, the cart toppled over and 
the little fellow fell out. His mother relates that a 
big Shilluk warrior had been following, his eyes 
riveted on the baby, with a real interest and affec- 
tion. When the cart upset, it seemed to be just 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 55 

too much for the Shilluk. He righted the express 
cart. He put the little fellow back in again. 
And then, as if afraid to trust the mother, he him- 
self took the handle of the cart and pulled it. Of 
old the prophet wrote, "A little child shall lead 
them." 

The presence of foreign missionaries at Doleib 
Hill has carried with it innumerable problems. 
Houses had to be built. At first the native mud 
wall had to suffice. Then brick was burned. 
Later on, a portable frame house sent from Amer- 
ica 'formed a link in the series of experiments 
aimed at the solution of the residence problem. 
Now, concrete blocks are being used for building 
purposes. 

Problems of health arose. One missionary was 
struck down with the dreaded black-water fever 
and had to leave. A regular daily use of qui- Health Prob . 
nine was adopted as in many parts of India. The lems. 
houses were screened and even screened com- 
munications between the houses were provided 
in an effort to avoid the malaria-bearing mosquito, 
whose activities begin at dusk. Such precautions 
have availed greatly in safeguarding health. The 
problem of a suitable and easily accessible sani- 
tarium is still unsolved. The Abyssinian hills 
look near on the map and are inviting, but their 
use awaits the day of railroad communication. 
To the physical hardships we must add social lim- 
itations. With mail but twice a month and only 



156 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

military stations within hundreds of miles, the 
Doleib Hill missionaries constitute indeed an iso- 
lated social world; especially to the noble and 
self-sacrificing wives of missionaries, enduring 
such trials for the Kingdom's sake, must the 
highest praise be given. 

The past decade of missionary life and service 
at Doleib Hill has witnessed many instances of 
watchful divine care and of intervening provi- 
dences. No life has been sacrificed and no prop- 
erty losses have been recorded during these ten 
a Divine years although dangers threatened on every 

hand, dangers from the elements, dangers of wild 
beasts and poisonous reptiles, dangers of unciv- 
ilized, excitable and warlike peoples. The fol- 
lowing incident is related in the Mission's Re- 
port of 1905: 

"One other special providence that stands out large 
amid many others should be mentioned, that you may 
understand some of the reasons why we thank God and 
take courage — it is preservation from the fearful prai- 
rie fires that seemed at times destined to envelop us. 
On one special occasion the fire which, we afterwards 
learned, originated at or beyond Fashoda (now Ko- 
dok), some sixty miles away, was driven southwards 
by a fierce hurricane and on the morning of Decem- 
ber 23, overleaping our insufficient fire guard, was 
upon us before we could realize it. Providentially we 
were all at home that morning and had about ten good, 
strong Shilluks working on the place. All hands turned 
out to fight the fire, and a fierce and apparently hope- 
less battle ensued. At the moment when all seemed 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 57 

lost, when the flames had come within thirty feet of the 
grass roof of one of the Mission buildings, a sudden 
and momentary shifting of the wind gave the slight 
respite needed to establish a dead-line and stop the 
further onslaught of the flames. When we think of 
what our condition would have been had the flames 
caught the thatch roofs, with which all our buildings 
were at the time covered, .... left on the bank 
of the river, amid a blackened wilderness and sav- 
age surroundings, without houses, food or clothing, 
the mind revolts at the picture and our hearts overflow 
with thanksgiving to Him who has so mercifully pre- 
served us." 

Language Problem: Few indeed will realize 
how great, how serious is the language problem Language Prob- 
presented by a mission to the Shilluks. Here was lem> 
a language that had never been reduced to writ- 
ing. Should Arabic characters be used to repre- 
sent the Shilluk sounds, or would it not be better 
to use Roman characters and thus avoid acquaint- 
ing the pagan Shilluk with characters which 
might lead him to an easier knowledge of Arabic 
and thus of Islam? Furthermore, here were 
strange sounds, nasals and aspirates, with no 
equivalents in European languages; how should 
these be represented? And when a system for 
transcribing sounds has been decided upon, what 
a task remains to gather a vocabulary! Armed 
with the phrase, "What is this ?" it may seem easy 
to go about, pointing to material objects, and dis- 
covering by the reply the names of these ob- 



158 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

jects. 'But how can you point to mental, moral 
and spiritual realities and discover the equivalents 
of "thought," "purpose," "love," "hate," "sin- 
ful," "holy." And even when long vocabularies 
have been listed, how will the grammatical struc- 
ture of the language be analyzed ? Will analogies 
to Aryan grammatical forms be sought for? Or 
will some Semitic language afford a nearer paral- 
lel? Or is the Shilluk language like the Chi- 
nese? Remember that when the missionaries be- 
gan their work along the Sobat there was no 
grammar, no dictionary, no syntax of the Shil- 
luk language at hand, and the only interpreters 
were crude and indifferent and inexact instru- 
ments for search after knowledge. 

Yet here stood the language, a supreme bar- 
rier, a supreme difficulty, in every effort to reach 
the mind or heart of the Shilluk. In the Report 
of 1908, the Rev. R. E. Carson wrote: 

"In connection with the language work, consider- 
able time was spent in collecting material for a Shil- 
luk grammar. A fairly good working vocabulary of 
between 1,700 and 2,000 Shulla words has been gath- 
ered together, comprising the words collected by all 
the missionaries during the past years ; a much clearer 
insight has been obtained into the Shilluk grammar 
and some translations have been made. Much work 
yet remains to be done, chiefly in acquiring those pe- 
culiar idiomatic expressions which are at once the 
distinguishing features and the genius of any lan- 
guage, and then in translating the Scriptures." 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 59 

To the labors of those who went before, the 
Rev. Elbert McCreery made most valuable con- 
tributions because of his special linguistic gifts, 
but the problem seemed to require for its solu- 
tion some broad acquaintance with African lan- 
guages and some specialized knowledge of Ne- 
gro systems of speech. Here again a remarkable 
providence ministered to the need of this Mission 
to the Shilluks. A German missionary on the 
west coast of Africa was compelled to return mann 5 ^L?n-" 
home for reasons of ill health. His brief mission- guage Work - 
ary experience had revealed in him linguistic 
gifts, so unusual, so phenomenal, that his Gov- 
ernment attached him to the Berlin University 
and commissioned him to visit Nubia for a spe- 
cial study of the language characteristics of its 
peoples. Through acquaintances formed in con- 
nection with the World Missionary Conference 
at Edinburgh in 1910, the news reached the 
Board in America that Professor Diedrich West- 
ermann was contemplating this trip to Nubia. An 
invitation was extended to him to proceed to the 
Sobat, at the Board's expense, to study the Shil- 
luk language and, if possible, to prepare a gram- 
mar that would at least outline the structure of 
the language. The invitation was accepted and, 
without charge for his talent or services, Profes- 
sor Westermann brought out a brief grammar, 
then a larger work consisting of grammar, dic- 
tionary and folk lore, then a small primer, which 



i6o 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Subtle Gram- 
mar. 



Evangelistic 
Work. 



now place the Shilluk language among the long 
list of languages that have been put into written 
form and analyzed by the servants of the King 
in the interest of Kingdom conquest. As if to 
show forth the exceeding goodness of God, an- 
other providence brought financial aid from the 
Arthington Fund of England which covered the 
bulk of the expenses of these publications. From 
this same fund there was also secured a generous 
grant toward the support of a missionary at Do- 
leib Hill for six years. The Gospel according to 
John is the only portion of Scripture that has, as 
yet, been translated and printed in the Shilluk lan- 
guage. 

How difficult and perplexing was the analysis 
of the Shilluk language may be better appreciated 
now that some of its problems have been solved. 
It has been found, for example, that intonation 
plays a large part both in the meaning of words 
and in grammatical structure. As illustration, 
otwon and leu, with a certain intonation mean 
respectively cock and hot season; with another in- 
tonation they mean hyena and small lizard. 

Evangelistic Work : The earliest efforts at evan- 
gelistic work were by means of an interpreter, a 
Mohammedan who was a Shilluk by birth, but 
who had lived in Northern Sudan for some time. 
But what assurance had the missionary that his 
thought reached the mind of the native Shilluk? 
In the first place, the missionary had to express 




Missionary Work. 

The "Evangel," Used on the Upper Sobat. 

Boys' Home at Khartum. 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE iGl 

his own thought in Arabic, to most of the mission- 
aries an unfamiliar language. Then the Moham- 
medan interpreter had to grasp the thought thus 
crudely expressed; to what extent would his 
Moslem conceptions permit him to understand 
the Christian truth ? Then, to what extent might 
he be expected to be either willing or able to 
translate into the Shilluk language these Christ- 
ian terms and teachings ? And finally, if success 
attended the effort thus far, what assurance was 
there that the pagan mind would not read into 
every Christian statement the crudest conceptions 
of an Animistic and pagan religion? 

The opportunity for evangelistic work lay in 
several directions : there were the casual visitors 
drawn to the mission compound through mere Done, 
curiosity; there were those who came singly or 
in groups to trade at the store ; there were those 
who came for medical treatment ; there were those 
who were employed in connection with the indus- 
trial work of the Mission, — some 1,580 through- 
out 191 1. Then there were outlying villages 
within walking distance of Doleib Hill. Finally, 
there were communities still farther away, to be 
reached by boat, whether requiring absence over 
night or not. Through the labors chiefly of 
friends in America, a boat, "The Elliott," was se- 
cured. Upon the character and success of these 
evangelistic efforts, the following paragraphs 
throw light: 

11 



Pray for Apio. 



l62 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

"Visits have been paid on Sabbath afternoons, as 
regularly as circumstances would permit, to the village 
of Apio, directly across the Sobat River from the Mis- 
sion, where the Gospel has been preached with more 
thoroughness than in any other one village. Sometimes 
quite large audiences were obtained; at other times, a 
mere handful. Hopes have been entertained that Apio 
would be the first village to erect its own church build- 
ing and accept the Gospel. Some of the leading men 
went so far as to request that a school be opened for 
their children. This was done and the school main- 
tained for a short time, until the village got very busy 
with the fall work (harvesting the late white durra, re- 
pairing their cattle enclosures, making grass baskets 
to contain their grain, etc.). At the same time a revul- 
sion toward paganism seemed to affect them and we 
were told by some of the young men that they did 
not wish to hear the Gospel any more, that the Word 
of God was 'bad,' that much sickness had come upon 
them since the school had been started. After a few 
weeks' absence, however, a delegation of older men 
came over to inquire why the preaching had been dis- 
continued and to disavow the action of the young men, 
who, they said, had no authority to talk as they had. 
In view of all the above facts, it is felt that the village 
of Apio deserves a special place in the prayers of Chris- 
tians at home. The parting with heathen customs, the 
breaking of pagan ties, will cause a terrible pang, 
changes in habits of thought and life of which friends 
in America have no conception. Think what it will 
mean, for example, to give up polygamy, an evil which 
now has its roots deep down in the foundation of their 
social fabrics. . This kind goeth not out save by 
prayer.' " 

"At times, some of the people have seemed on the 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 163 

eve of a spiritual awakening. One young man who 
had worked many months at the Mission and had re- 
ceived a fairly thorough knowledge of the plan of sal- 
vation, said : 'I believe in Jesus and have only one wish, 
to keep God's commandments. When the Holy Spirit 
comes into my heart, then I will go to preach the Gos- suaded. 
pel to all my people.' Another time he said: 'My 
heart wishes to follow Christ, but my head is full of 
other thoughts.' Pray that the Spirit may come to him 
and the glorious fact of the new birth be consummated 
in him. 

"Another, a middle-aged man, recently cried out in 
meeting, 'Do not tell us of these things (the Resurrec- 
tion and the Judgment) any more; now we dream at 
night about dead people rising up out of their graves.' 
And yet another said, 'I see the plan of salvation very 
clearly now, and I hope some day I shall be a Christ- 
ian.' 

"Side by side with these glimmerings of the dawn, 
have stalked bigoted opposition, the foulest crimes, the 
bloodiest tragedies. Frequently the preaching of the 
Gospel has been openly laughed at, sneered at. Once, 
when the claims of Jesus were being pressed home 
upon them, they cried out : 'We have a king ; Jesus may 
save the foreigners, but Nyikang will save the Shilluks. 
We do not want to follow Jesus.' Venereal diseases, 
the result of the Christless life, have given evidence of 
their spread on every hand; and perhaps not since the 
Mission was founded has there been greater zeal dis- 
played in the prosecution of blood feuds, nor more foul 
murders committed. At one time, the men of a certain 
village made an ambuscade and fell upon their rivals 
while at a funeral service, killing over fifteen of them. 
Another day, before the dawn, the men of a near-by 
village filed out into the darkness, surrounded the dwel- 
lings of their doomed enemies and fell ferociously upon 



Reactions. 



164 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

all those who unsuspectingly left their homes, killing 
three and wounding four. The Devil is showing his 
power and verily there is only one Power able to cope 
with his and to dethrone him from the hearts and lives 
of the Shilluks." 

Evangelistic work, however, may be regarded 
as having been either halted or hampered by in- 
itial limitations in the knowledge of the native 
language and by the further difficulty of convey- 
ing to the pagan mind ideas and conceptions that 
are wholly foreign to it, and that have no real 
equivalent in the Shilluk language. 

Industrial Work : The casual visitor will prob- 
ably be most impressed with the development of 
work. tna industrial work at Doleib Hill, for here are the 

obvious proofs of this department of missionary 
work : 200 acres of land available for cultivation, 
a vegetable garden, a fruit orchard, selected cattle 
and sheep and goats, even some ostriches, a wind- 
mill for irrigation, a store, 1 and industrial build- 
ings. In charge of this work are two industrial 
missionaries, graduates of a State Agricultural 
College, so that the work may enjoy the advant- 
age of the application of scientific knowledge and 
of specialized training in the solution of its prob- 
lems. And its problems are many and serious : 
To what products is the soil best adapted ? Will 
the climate permit such cultivation as might be 

1 This has been recently closed by the Government for rea- 
sons not yet known. 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 65 

possible elsewhere? Will these products foe of 
service to the native for food? If he produces 
more than he himself needs, can he find a market 
for the surplus ? Finally, but most important, in 
what way may the Shilluk be coaxed, persuaded, 
taught to work? Nor must industrial work be- How Ra P idl y ? 
come too complex or ambitious, for even though 
the Shilluk learns to work efficiently on the Mis- 
sion compound, how can he carry forward such 
work when he neither owns nor is able to buy ex- 
pensive implements? No, his training must ever 
be in keeping with his circumstances and condi- 
tion, advancing only as he is able to advance with 
it. In 1908, Mr. R. W. Tidrick gave this vivid 
description of the work : 

"From an agricultural standpoint there are many 

obstacles to contend with here. While the climate is 

favorable to some of the staple crops, it is too hot T . . T 

F ' Injurious In- 

for some, too wet for others, still others cannot en- sects, 
dure the dry season. The soil also is ill suited for 
many plants that otherwise would find a congenial 
home here. The climate has also drawbacks to stock 
raising. Mosquitoes, flies and ticks prey upon live 
stock and make it necessary to house them most care- 
fully. Tsetse fly disease and Texas fever were both 
prevalent this year; this is not the same trypanosome 
of the tsetse fly that is so deadly in other parts of 
Africa. 

"There are many injurious insects but the termite 
(white ant) is the worst of all. They devour not only 
lumber, wherever they can reach it (this includes na- 
tive wood in general), but they also destroy vegetables 



l66 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

and cereals to a certain extent. Most of the native 
wood is also attacked by a boring beetle which perfor- 
ates the wood through and through, and in a short 
time leaves it a mass of wood dust that is hardly fit 
for fuel. Transportation is limited, and prohibitive to 
the profitable production of some of the best growing 
crops. The scarcity of fuel and building material lim- 
its the possibilities in the development and teaching 
of trades, etc. The lack of any skilled workmen as 
leaders retards this part of the work. But the hardest 
problem is the Shilluk himself. Having been in con- 
tact for generations with a civilization from which he 
could appropriate little besides diseases and new forms 
of vices, he has naturally a contempt for all civiliza- 
tion. 

"To the writer the Shilluk resembles the American 

''The African Indian in many more ways than he does his colored 
Inman." 4 , .,.:-..,_ _ « , , 

brother in the United States. Proud, haughty to a con- 
tempt for foreigners in general, conceited and set in his 
ways and in customs that seem almost a part of his re- 
ligion. Ignorant of needs, his wants are few, other 
than the satisfying of animal passions and appetites. 
Of course he is generally lazy, and if a real jal dwongs 
(man of means) he does not work at all. He cannot 
understand why we missionaries should labor with our 
hands. Honesty is not a common practice at least. 
Moreover, he is quarrelsome; village feuds are com- 
mon; many deaths result from fights; it is not uncom- 
mon for our workmen to suddenly drop their tools and 
run off to a fight. These feuds prevent many men from 
coming to work or trade at the station. As yet no 
Shilluks have been willing to remain at work more than 
a few months at a time. It takes but a week's wages to 
purchase a cloth or buy a spear head or all the beads 
that they want, and, until one of these wants returns 
why should they work?" 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 



167 



A most important service rendered by the in- 
dustrial department is set forth in the following 
paragraphs : 

"The durra famine, mentioned in last year's report, 

continued in severity until the new crop of 1910. While 

the people did not actually starve, they were weakened 

physically. They scoured the fields for the grass bins 

of the large black ants. These ants store up grass seed 

in considerable quantities, as squirrels do nuts. The 

women dug up this ant provender, and used it like durra. 

It satisfies hunger, but is poor nourishment. In the 

swamps they also find a reed whose stalks yield a 

sweet juice. These they first scorched in a smolder- m . 

_ , , . 1 r , Trade with 

ing fire, then steeped in hot water for some hours ! Natives. 

Dirty water, about five per cent, sugar, was the result. 

"Our first effort was to supply the need of the na- 
tives directly dependent on us, but others soon besought 
us to bring them durra also, first in small quantities, 
and then in sail boat loads. We urged the people to 
supply their needs early so as to take advantage of the 
trade winds to bring the grain by sail boat, rather than 
by expensive steamers. Their improvidence was shown 
by the few who really tried to lay up a sufficient amount 
to last till the new crop. Steam transportation costs 
treble that by wind power, but the north winds last 
only from November till the end of March. 

"At first every one bought with silver money, but 
their cash was soon exhausted. Of course, some had 
but little money to begin with, and some perhaps, barely 
touched the money they had been hoarding ever since 
silver became a medium of exchange among them. When 
their cash ran out, we accepted anything they had to 
exchange that we could dispose of for money. 

"The trade developed, principally in cattle, sheep 



1 68 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

and goats. Some six hundred animals were taken in 
exchange. Many were resold within a few minutes 
after they were traded for. Shilluks who had money 
to spare came to take advantage of the famine prices, 
so that our Mission became a center of live stock ex- 
change. It was no uncommon sight to see a crowd of 
Dinkas or Nuers, accompanied by Shilluk buyers, com- 
ing with their stock to trade for durra. Often the 
Shilluks from the same village would come together 
as seller and buyer, the one wishing to buy the cattle 
that his neighbor wanted to sell. When asked why 
they did not make an exchange in the village, and the 
seller bring his money for durra, they always replied 
that they preferred to make an exchange through us. 
"When stock arrived, we estimated the value in 
money and durra, and announced it openly. If the 
seller agreed (and it was a rare exception that he did 
not), we offered the buyer the animal at the cash 
value of the durra. The buyers were as well pleased as 
the sellers, and all parties usually went away happy. 
We tried to give the people the grain as near cost as 
possible, and still not run too great a risk of going 
into debt, and thus largely prevented the Mohammedan 
traders from taking advantage of them in their ex- 
tremity. They were angry at us, however, and peti- 
tioned the Government to stop our trading with the 
people; but their petition failed of its object. The 
Governor of the province reported to the central Gov- 
ernment that we had done them a favor rather than an 
injury." 1 

Efforts to give the young boys and girls some- 
thing of a practical and literary education com- 
bined have been attended with great difficulty. 

1 Since this time the Government has forbidden such relief 
measures by missionaries. 




Mr. Roosevelt at Doleib Hill. 
His Steamer Approaching Khartum. 
Addressing Young Men at Khartum. 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 69 

Prizes were offered for regular attendance. Les- 
sons in sewing were given to the girls. 2 

Medical Work: In 1910, Mr. Roosevelt visited Medical work, 
the station at Doleib Hill on his way down the 
Nile. A few days later in a public address at 
Khartum, he said : 

"I stopped a few days ago at the little Mission Roosevel f g 
Station on the Sobat. One of the things that struck me Testimony, 
there was what was being done by the medical side of 
that mission. There were about thirty patients who 
were under the charge of the mission doctor. Patients 
had come in to be treated by the mission doctors from 
places 125 miles distant. I do not know a better type 
of missionary than the doctor who comes out here and 
gives his whole heart to the work and does his work 
well. He is doing practical work of the most valuable 
type for civilization and for bringing the people up to 
the standards you are trying to set. If you make it 
evident to a man that you are sincerely trying to bet- 
ter his body, he will be much more ready to believe 
that you are trying to better his soul." 

Among the diseases treated there have been, Dise ases 
first and most dreadful, those brought in by the Treated - 
immoral foreigner, especially the Moslem trader 
and soldier; but also eye diseases, leprosy, the 
black fever (kala-azar) , lobar pneumonia, ele- 
phantiasis and guinea worm. The efforts to put 
this work on a proper financial basis are well de- 
scribed in the following quotation: 

"We have, after considerable thought and prayer, 



a See Annual Report of 1904, p. 214 and of 1910, p. 225-6. 



170 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Paying for 
Value Receiv- 
ed. 



entered upon a new departure, which is to endeavor to 
make every patient pay something for treatment. We 
make the fee very small, from two to five cents, and 
if they have no money we accept a fowl or a few eggs. 
We believe that this principle, if followed out, will 
eventually militate for good. A petty Anuak chief 
came one afternoon with six sick people. He himself 
had sore eyes which would need treatment for some 
time. He had a rather exalted opinion of himself and 
thought that, since he was such a great man and had 
once been addressed by the Governor of the Province, 
that we would of course feel honored to treat him. 
When asked for fees he seemed surprised, but after 
some grumbling he produced 10 piasters, or 50 cents. 
We declined, then a few spears were offered in addi- 
tion, but we said, 'Bring a cow.' The whole party 
would then file off to a neighboring Shilluk village to 
talk it over and then return with a compromise. At 
last they sold the boat they came in and brought what 
probably seemed to them the fabulous sum of $4.00; 
still we were obdurate, as one cannot afford to change 
his word with these people or even argue with them as 
they would speedily become unmanageable. We had 
made sure in the first place that the party was abund- 
antly able to pay the price we asked. Then they said, 
'We will go to Fashoda,' which is 60 miles distant. We 
said, 'Very well,' and they silently marched off. Early 
the next morning they were encamped in our yard 
wanting to talk. 'We are tired of talk,' we said. 'Just 
one word,' they said, 'we have found a cow.' A few 
mornings afterwards the animal was brought." 



Station Near Nasser. 



Nasser. 



The establishment of a mission station at Do- 
leib Hill, near the mouth of the Sobat River, has, 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 171 

from the very first, been recognized as only an 
initial step toward the evangelization of the tribes 
living farther up the river. Nor has it ever been 
proposed to establish many stations requiring 
such elaborate equipment as the various depart- 
ments of work call for at Doleib Hill, but rather 
to use the latter as a base and to establish a series 
of stations farther up the river where an ordained 
man and a medical missionary would constitute 
an adequate force for missionary effort. Clear 
and definite as were these plans for the extension 
of the work, their realization had to wait upon 

' J; First Work at 

the discovery of the necessary resources. Sev- Nasser. 
eral exploring trips having been made, it became 
possible at last to appoint two missionaries who 
might proceed to the establishment of a second 
mission station near Nasser, some 182 miles up 
the Sobat River among the Nuers. The Rev. El- 
bert MoCreery and Dr. Thomas Lambie, equipped 
with a barge, "The Evangel," and a launch, start- 
ed from Khartum in the spring of 191 2. Owing 
to tribal wars between the Nuers and Anuaks, the 
Government would not permit them to take their 
families with them. Only a few months of work 
were possible at this time. In 1913, these mis- 
sionaries located their families at Doleib Hill and 
again planned for such work as might be possible 
at Nasser. A site was bought near Nasser and 
the new station may be regarded as fairly estab- 
lished. Much of the experience gained at Doleib 



172 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Hill will doubtless be serviceable at Nasser, but 
there is a new language to be mastered and re- 
duced to writing, and to this task Mr. McCreery 
has applied himself with characteristic thorough- 
ness. 

NORTHERN SUDAN. 

The work in Northern Sudan contrasts sharply 
in almost every way with the work in Southern 
Sudan. Here are centuries of civilization, a fairly 
unified language area and Islam in the ascend- 
ancy. The limitations placed upon direct mis- 

Church Work . , , * ■, , , • , • 

in Northern sionary work have led to a new emphasis being 
laid upon the part which the native Evangelical 
(Protestant) Church is to play in the evangeliza- 
tion of Northern Sudan. Where there were a 
sufficient number of native Evangelical Church 
members, work has been organized either as a 
congregation, or as a mission, or as a Men's 
League, and religious services have been held 
with entire or partial regularity. At Khartum, 
the first native Protestant congregation was or- 
ganized on December 30th, 1907, but religious 
work has also been carried on at Khartum North, 
at Omdurman, at Atbara, at Wadi Haifa and 
Wad Medani, at Port Sudan, and at Dueim. At 
these last four points, however, the work is very 
feeble for lack of workers and financial support. 
On March 21, 191 2, the Presbytery of the Sudan 
was organized in faith and prayer. 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 73 

The Northern Sudan field has been held up be- 
fore the native Evangelical Church in Egypt as 
its foreign Held. The first ordained man sent, the 
Rev. Gebera Hanna, was a man whose sweet 
spirit, judgment and devotion, made him a worthy 
leader of what, it is hoped, will be a long line of 
native Egyptian missionaries to the Sudan. The 
interest of the Church in Egypt in the work in 
the Sudan needs greatly to be cultivated, for at 
many centers in Northern Sudan there is a real 
spiritual destitution for lack of the means of 
grace. 

The presence of so many young men in Govern- 
ment employment in the Sudan has made the 
Young Men's League and the Christian Endeavor 
Society effective forms of Christian work. A 
strong organization of the Protestant young men 
exists at Khartum. There is also a somewhat sim- 
ilar organization (although ethical rather than re- 
ligious) among the Coptic young men, called 
"The Coptic Library." 

Educational work in Northern Sudan has, for 
the most part, followed the lines laid down by work, 
similar work in Egypt. The fact that such liter- 
ary education is of little value save for Govern- 
ment positions, and the fact that its compact cur- 
riculum affords little opportunity for religious in- 
struction and influence, and no opportunity for 
practical or manual training, have suggested the 
propriety of restricting missionary work along 



174 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

educational lines to the development of an alto- 
gether different type of school. Two institutions 
have emerged from this effort to meet existing 
needs, — the one is the Boys' Home at Khartum, 
the other is the Girls' School at Khartum North. 1 
It is the aim in both of these institutions to break 
away from the rigid curriculum and provide a 
training which will equip for honorable, useful 
and efficient, remunerative professions and life 
callings, whether in the trades, in business or in 
the home. The sort of material upon which it is 
sought to bring the influences of Christian edu- 
cation to bear, may be judged from the following 
paragraphs : 

"The youngest, a little girl, had been given to the 
use of 'marisa' (a fermented drink in use all over the 
Changed Chil- Sudan), until she was really a drunkard. For the first 
dren. month or two after coming to us, she was peevish and 

fretful, and nothing seemed to satisfy her. She was 
constantly craving hot foods, spices, raw onions, and 
the peel of limes. Gradually, this unnatural appetite 
wore away. The child is completely changed; indeed 
the children are all changed in manner, and we are en- 
couraged to believe that in time each will experience a 
change of heart also." 

"Rizkullah was our bad boy. His father, who is 
dead, was a Copt, and his mother was a concubine. She 
is still alive somewhere. The grandfather who disliked 
the boy and therefore ill-treated him, died just recently. 
Rizkullah, who came to us about three years ago, was 



1 This school is supported by the Women's Board in Amer- 
ica and was opened September 1, 1908. 



in North. 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 75 

then the worst boy I ever had to do with. His mind 
was bright enough, but seemed almost hopelessly ruined. 
But recently there seems to have come a great change 
in Rizkullah, for which our hearts are exceedingly glad. 

"Zeinab is the daughter of a Moslem father, and 
an Abyssinian mother. The mother is living in Khar- 
tum, and is married to another husband, the father is 
also alive. She is a pretty child, but with a rather bad 
disposition. She is about seven years old. 

"Abu Makari is the child of Egyptian Moslem 
parents. There is nothing remarkable about the child. 
He has been with us for two years, but as both his 
parents are alive, it is probable that we will lose him." 

Medical work in Northern Sudan has experi- 
enced the disadvantage of many changes and in- Medical work 
terruptions. It was begun at Omdurman after the 
Church Missionary Society had apparently given 
up this field on the death of Dr. Hall. Later it 
was transferred to Khartum North, where a dis- 
pensary was built, and again it was extended to 
Khartum. Dr. Magill gives the following account 
Of the conditions which call for Christian medical 
work : i 

"Native medicine is a curious mixture of supersti- 
tion and quackery. One is not surprised to find the 
ignorant Sudanese putting implicit confidence in augur- 
ies and amulets; and one learns not to be surprised to 
find even the educated resorting to the same unreason- 
able methods, for after all it takes at least two genera- 
tions for what is usually called education to get be- 
neath the surface deep enough to touch the real man 
or woman. 

"Moslems are fond of writing passages from the 



I76 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

Koran upon the sick; some Christians use the Scrip- 
tures in like manner. One boy whom I attended was 
not only well covered with writing but had also an open 
Bible on the bed near him. 

"Counter irritation in the form of a series of cuts, 
or actual cautery and blood-letting, are the most 
popular remedies. While sometimes harmless and oc- 
casionally useful, native medical practices are often 
harmful. 

"On one occasion a prescription was written for a 
man suffering from an eruption on his face and direc- 
/immoraHty. U tions given for the use of the medicine it called for. 
He took the paper and began to rub it all over his 
face in the most careful and matter-of-fact way; and it 
was with some difficulty that he was made to under- 
stand that the healing virtue lay not in the paper, but 
in the medicine which the paper called for. 

"The drinking of native beer is a great and preva- 
lent curse. The amounts consumed are sometimes enor- 
mous. A woman patient in replying to a question said 
that she could drink nearly a bucketful (two gallons) 
at one sitting; and a man who complained of dyspeptic 
symptoms said that he drank two bucketfuls every day. 

"Life in and around Khartum is on the whole on 
a very bad level. Political exigencies seem to forbid 
the employment of the only force by which it is possible 
for a people to be regenerated; and the forces em- 
ployed, while sufficient to transform a waste of ruins 
into a well-ordered city with many splendid buildings 
and beautiful gardens, and to make smartly dressed, 
well-drilled soldiers out of naked savages, are not pow- 
erful enough to change the beastly character developed 
by generations of excess. 

"Practices and diseases which it is a shame even 
to mention are common, and both Sudanese and Egypt- 
ians are regulating the size of their families. Practic- 







§ I 

■3 I 

CD g 



3 a 

as 



THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 1 77 

ally all of the Sudanese women pass through the dang- 
ers of confinement without any help worthy of the 
name. They suffer without much complaint, perhaps, 
because they consider suffering their appointed lot. Ig- 
norance, carelessness, and vice work havoc among the 
children. Pitiful little skeletons are often brought to the 
clinic for whom apart from good nursing and proper 
food there can be no hope. 

"The needs of women and children are particu- 
larly great. It must always be so where Islam rules. 
The women of respectable families are, for the most 
part, rigidly secluded and must pass the greater part 
of their lives within the narrow confines of their homes. 
There is not sufficient data on hand from which to make 
a forecast but it is highly probable that the needs of 
women and children will occupy a large place in our 
hospital of the future." 

Those who have labored in the Northern Sudan 
mission field are the following: The Rev. J. K. 
Giffen, D. D., and Mrs. Giffen, Dr. H. T. Mc- S2S2S" 
Laughlin and Mrs. McLaughlin, Rev. George A. 
Sowash and Mrs. Sowash, Dr. Thomas A. Lambie 
and Mrs. Lambie, Dr. Hugh R. Magill and Mrs. 
Magill, Rev. Elbert McCreery, Miss Hannah C. 
McLean,* Miss Fannie G. Bradford, Miss Anna 
M. Barackman,* Rev. Paul J. Smith and Mrs. 
Smith, Miss Aulora "Mclntyre. 

Missionary Comity. 

In Southern Sudan, the different Christian mis- 
sionary agencies have been assigned by the Gov- 

*Married in the Mission. 
12 



178 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

ernment to different areas. In Northern Sudan 
an agreement exists between the two Protestant 
■Missions, — the American and the British, — to 
counsel with each other in every development of 
their work, so that there may be no overlapping 
^comity ry or ^ ric ^ on - As a result of this agreement, in 
many places where both Missions are laboring, 
the one Mission will develop work along one line 
and the other along a different line. In Khartum, 
for example, the Church Missionary Society has 
a Girls' School ; the American Mission has there- 
fore no Girls' School, but has a Boys' School. A 
most happy illustration of mission comity occur- 
red at Otmdurman. The Church Missionary So- 
ciety had a successful medical work here which 
continued until the death of Dr. Hall. The work 
was entirely suspended for some time, and finally 
the American Mission located a doctor there and 
developed a considerable medical work. It was 
then discovered that, unknown to the Americans, 
Mrs. Hall had been collecting funds to erect a 
building as a memorial to her husband which 
should also serve as an equipment for medical 
work. The American Mission, therefore, gener- 
ously gave up Omdurman as a field for medical 
work and located at Khartum North the dispen- 
sary which they had been about to erect at Om- 
durman. Bishop Gwynne, formerly a missionary, 
has been a great promoter of mission comity. 



CHAPTER VII 



Challenge and Conquest 



"Christ expects that every one who knows His love 
shall tell of it. Christ claims that every one who is 
made partaker of His redemption shall yield himself, 
as the first object of his existence, to live for the com- 
ing of His Kingdom." 

—Andrew Murray. 

"Behold, I have set the land before you, go in." 

—Deut. i: 8. 

"The signs of the times, the lessons of the past, 
the indications of the future, the call of Providence, 
and the voices which come borne to us by every breeze, 
and from every nation under heaven, all alike bid us 
lay our plans upon a scale worthy of men who expect 
to conquer a world." 

—Bishop J. M. Thobwrn. 



VII 
CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 

THE year 1898 marks the military con- 
quest of the Egyptian Sudan. We 
may well ask, When is the Christian 
conquest of the Egyptian Sudan to be The Christian 
accomplished? Less than fourteen years elapsed conquest: 
after Gordon's death before the land for which he 
died was won back from barbarism to civilization 
by Kitchener and his army. Why have almost 
nineteen centuries been allowed to elapse since 
Christ died for the Land of the Blacks, and not 
even yet have these people learned that there is a 
World Savior? The early Christianity that 
reached Egypt and Abyssinia barely touched the 
fringes of the great Sudan, and it was as inade- 
quate in spiritual character and doctrinal purity 
as it was in its extensiveness and missionary 
outreach. Yet in three distinct ways does the 
challenge come to-day to the Church of Jesus 
Christ to press forward to the Christian conquest 
of this section of Africa. 

1. There is the Challenge of Past Neglect and 
of Present Need: Why has the Egyptian Sudan 
been left so long an unoccupied field? Is it said 

181 i 



1 82 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

that the country has not been open to missionary 
effort? Strange, is it not, that this Land of the 
Blacks has been open to the modern explorer for 
a whole century and a quarter, since the days of 
James Bruce, but not open to the herald of the 
Cross ? Strange, is it not, that dangers to life and 
cost of equipments did not daunt the geographical 
societies, but did discourage the missionary so- 
cieties ? One hundred years ago, the slave raider 
and the slave trader — European, Syrian, Egyptian 
and Arab — found it possible and profitable to 
why lias the P^rce into the undisturbed, unknown regions 
fayed? De ~ beyond the march of civilization that they might 
trade in human flesh, but it is only in the last 
decade and a half that the Church has cared to 
press forward into these regions to win souls unto 
eternal life. Is the Church driven by weaker 
motives than the slave trader? But were there 
not real difficulties in the way of earlier mission- 
ary effort? Of course there were difficulties. 
But do difficulties afford a reason for failure to 
fulfil the commissions of Christ? Was not Cal- 
vary difficult? Did not redemption cost life, the 
life of the Son of God? Shall not evangelization 
cost life, the lives of the sons of God? 

Because of past neglect there is present need. 
Take your stand at Doleib Hill, that lonely sta- 
tion near the mouth of the Sobat River, and 
search for your nearest missionary neighbors. 
To the north is Khartum, over 500 miles away. 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 183 

To the south is Malek, the Church Missionary 
Society's mission station, some 200 miles distant. 
East you may go 100 miles to Nasser, to find 
the second American mission station in Southern 
Sudan, and passing that you will go 400 miles to 
Addis Ababa in Abyssinia, where stands a lonely 
missionary of. a Swedish Mission; passing that 
you will go 700 miles to the Indian Ocean, but 
you will find no mission station. West, you may 
go five hundred miles, — one thousand, — fifteen 
hundred miles, and you come to Nigeria, and 
there you are introduced to your nearest mission- 
ary neighbors on that side. Is this not need, — 
desperate, appalling, almost inconceivable? 

There is physical need. From those living on 
Sudanese plains as fertile as much of our West- 
ern prairie land, there is heard again and again 
the famine cry, Durra, durra! (Corn, corn!) 
This is a physical need that Christian teachings 
of agriculture, thrift and foresight, may easily sat- 
isfy and banish forever. Thin and wasted by dis- 
ease, Shilluks, Dinkas and Nuers come to the 
mission station for help, many of them traveling 
over a hundred miles. But what of the physical 
sufferings and needs of those who cannot come 
through weakness, or because of distance, or be- 
cause they have no knowledge of a hope other 
than that which comes from the witch doctor. 
There is also intellectual need. Christianity has 
ministered richly to the intellectual life of the na- 



Physical Need. 



184 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

tions. It has reduced languages to writing, awak- 
ened dormant faculties, stirred the imagination, 
created literatures, inspired poets, historians, 
philosophers. But it has not yet done these 
things for the peoples of the Sudan. They live 
and die with only oral traditions and a crude 
folklore. All that civilization which rests on 
books and writings and calculations and corres- 
pondence, lies far out of sight still, for its foun- 
dations have not yet been laid among the black 
tribes of the Sudan. 

Moral need in the Sudan is also a challenge to 
Christian missions. Missionaries have indeed 
Moral Need, testified to the comparatively fair moral charac- 
ter of the black tribes which live beyond easy 
contact with the Arabs. Woman's position is 
better than in Moslem Egypt. Theft is severely 
punished. Immorality is counted a grave of- 
fence. But there is often a legalized immorality ; 
for example, a man may have just as many wives 
as he can buy with his herd of cows. Further- 
more, this natural morality of the uneorrupted 
blacks is no match for the temptations, the sins, 
the refinements of iniquity which follow in the 
wake of civilization. Tribal restrictions and 
moral regulations melt away as wax before the 
fire, when these rude pagan tribes come into touch 
with the Arab and his insidious and degrading 
social customs. 

Finally, there is religious need. The black 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 185 

man of the Sudan is essentially religious: wit- 
ness his devotion to a false leader in the great 
Ma'hdi rebellion. Why should he not be given the 
true "Guide," Who will lead him not to death 
but to life ? However crude and illogical his re- 
ligious conceptions may be, yet they are real. 
He believes in a supernatural world, in a God or Reli * ious Need - 
in gods ; he has not fallen to that lowest degrada- 
tion, atheism ; for him, though not in the worthy 
sense in which the poet meant it, "Earth's cram- 
med with Heaven, and every common bush afire 
with God." Even the little work already done 
testifies to the religious nature of the Sudanese. 
"On one occasion," writes Dr. Magill, "a boy suf- 
fering from a club wound on the head was 
brought in by his father ; while I was working on 
the boy, I heard his father speak, and thinking 
he had addressed me I asked him what he had 
said; he replied, 'I was asking God to spare the 
life of my son/ " 

With assurance it may be said that if once the 
Lord of Love is revealed to him none, — no, not 
the fiery and passionate Arab of the desert, not 
the gentle and meditative child of India, not the 
honest and practical Mongol, — none will love the 
Master with greater abandonment or loyalty 
than the black man of Africa, Nature's child, in 
whose heart is no guile, but a tender, glad and 
undivided love. 



1 86 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

2. A second reason for the speedy evangeliza- 
tion of the Egyptian Sudan is to be found in the 
Challenge of Islam. If Christianity will not claim 
the Egyptian Sudan, Islam will. The World 
of he is£^. llense Missionary Conference, held at Edinburgh, in 
1910, had before it the findings of a Commission 
appointed to study the world missionary situa- 
tion. One of the most important of these find- 
ings reads as follows: 

"The threatening advance of Islam in Equa- 
torial Africa presents to the Church of Christ 
the decisive question whether the Dark Continent 
shall become Mohammedan or Christian/' 

In discussing this report, the Rev. George Rob- 
son, D. D., said: 

"Pagan Africa is becoming Mohammedan more 
rapidly than it is becoming Christian. Along all the 
inland routes of trade, Mohammedan traders are stead- 
ily advancing southward, and every Mohammedan trader 
is a Mohammedan missionary. The very first thing 
which requires to be done if Africa is to be won for 
Christ is to throw a strong missionary force right 
across the centre of Africa to bar the advance of the 
Moslem." 

But the question is raised, To what extent 
does this hold true of the Egyptian Sudan? A 
recent visit to the Sudan presented an oppor- 
tunity for gathering information on this point, 
not only from missionaries, but also from con- 
versations with government officials and others. 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 1 87 

Not a statement nor a suggestion was voiced to 
contradict the universal judgment that Islam is 
advancing with startling rapidity in its conquest 
of pagan territory in the Egyptian Sudan. Along 
the single waterway of the Sobat River from 20 
to 30 boats of Moslem traders were seen in 191 1 
as against only four or five in 1909. These trad- 
ers stayed the whole season, from fall until 
spring, moving about among the pagan villages. 
In villages along the Sobat that were formerly 
purely pagan, groups of young men are now to 
be found who have come into contact with Islam, Aggressive 

, « * A 1 « 1 a -i • Moslem Trad- 

have adopted Arab dress, speak some Arabic ers. 
and are referred to by their fellow villagers, 
either with or without contempt, as "foreign- 
ers." Settlements of Moslem traders are now 
found in increasing numbers in pagan territory 
along the Zeraf River. These settlements are 
usually to be found at such strategic points as to 
claim for them the striking designation, "the 
Gateway of the District." Islam is not only ex- 
tending its influence to new territory, but it is 
becoming more firmly entrenched in sections 
where before it had barely secured a foothold. 
Even chiefs of villages, men of more advanced 
years, have adopted the Moslem rite of circum- 
cision. The town of Wau, the largest pagan cen- 
ter in the Bahr el Ghazal district, over 850 miles 
south of Khartum, has now become so predomi- 
nantly Moslem that the Roman Catholics, who 



A Moslem 
Army. 



1 88 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

had a mission to pagans at that point, are re- 
ported to be withdrawing. 

While the Moslem trader is the chief agent in 
the spread of Islam, the military station operates 
in the same direction. The Egyptian officer is 
invariably a Moslem. Even where the troops are 
blacks they are almost universally Moslem, for 
they have been recruited and trained at the capi- 
tal where Moslem influences predominate. If 
additional men are recruited from the pagan com- 
munity, they are usually circumcised; doubtless 
at the order of the Moslem officer in charge. To 
this we must add the building up at each military 
station of an extensive social community, of the 
wives and relatives of this Moslem soldiery. Im- 
morality widens the circle of influence. And fin- 
ally, the trading relationships involved in the 
maintenance of so large a community makes the 
outreach of Moslem influence still greater. The 
fact that the soldier represents the ruling power 
in a military way, vests his religion — Islam — 
with a greater authority and influence than it 
could possess without this accompaniment of mil- 
itary power. 

What are the effects of this occupation of pa- 
gan territory by Islam? Where Islam enters 
there appear a cunning, a capacity for decep- 
tion, an untruthfulness, and a dishonesty which 
did not characterize pagan life before Islam ap- 
peared. There is general testimony to this fact. 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 1 89 

There are also changes in dress and a spirit of 
self assertion and self confidence, all of which 
may be ascribed simply to the contact of pagan 
life with civilization and which are not bad in 
themselves. The position of woman seems in- 
variably to be lowered. In pagan communities, 
a woman, especially an unmarried woman, may 
go about and be quite safe from all molesta- 
tion. Not so after the introduction of Islam. It 
is true that in paganism woman is safe because 
of a commercial value attached to her person, but 
in any case her person is safer under paganism 
than under Islam. 

But most disturbing of all are the reports con- Spread of 
cerning the spread of immorality and of its at- Imn ")raiity. 
tendant diseases through the followers of Islam. 
From villages near the military centers, 99 per 
cent, of all the cases treated by the medical mis- 
sionary are of this type. From villages distant 
from such centers, there are scarcely any such 
medical cases. 

Such testimony as is available points to in- 
creasing difficulty in carrying the Gospel to those 
who formerly were pagans but have come under 
Moslem influences. In part this is due to a 
greater independence of spirit; in part, due 
to an attitude of hostility to Christianity created 
in the minds of the pagans by such Moslem ref- 
erences to Christians as "firewood of hell." 

In the light of such facts as these, the judg- 



190 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

ment of Canon E, Sell, of Madras, can be easily 
understood, when he says, "There are times when 
it is very difficult to balance the competing 
claims of various parts of the Mission field. I 
see no difficulty now. . . . Certain parts of 
Africa form now, in military language, the ob- 
jective, and are the strategical positions of the 

great Mission field Parts of Africa 

in which the Moslem advance is imminent have 
for the present a preeminent claim." This is the 
challenge of Islam. 

"O God, which shall it be? 
Shall Islam's god the pagan's heart o'erthrow, 
That heart so childlike in its helplessness? 
Be first to mould such pliant clay, and so 
Forestall the Christ and His sweet gentleness? 

"O God, which shall it be? 
We pray Thee, Lord of Harvest, hear our cry ! 
Hold back the hosts of Islam, stay their hands, 
Until the Cross of Christ be lifted high, 
So high, His peace shall reign throughout all lands." 

3. There is also the Challenge of the Will of 
The win of God to urge us forward to the speedy evangeli- 

God for the . . f _ _ . T , , 

Sudan. zation of the Egyptian Sudan. In that great ad- 

dress, "The Place of Missions in the Thought 
of God," Robert E. Speer gives four proofs that 
the missionary enterprise holds first place in the 
thought of God. The first is to be found in the 
very character of God ; He is a missionary God. 
The second proof is to be found in the missionary 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 191 

character of Christ. The third is seen in the mis- 
sionary character and teachings of the Word of 
God. The fourth proof is to be found in the 
very movements of history, which are as scaffold- 
ing for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of Christ. 
These four reasons apply with special force to 
the Egyptian Sudan. What means the history of 
this land, written in sorrow and tears, with its 
bloodshed and war, with its death of Gordon and 
its reconquest of the country by Kitchener, what 
is it all but a dramatic call to the Church of God 
to enter in and occupy the land for Christ? As 
for the missionary message of the Word of God, 
how specific are the promises, how definite are 
the prophecies, that relate to this part of God's 
great world ! The Psalmist sings : 

"Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall 
haste to stretch out her hands unto God." 

Isaiah speaks in the name of Jehovah, saying: 

"The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethi- 
opia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over 
unto thee, and they shall be thine; they shall go after 
thee ; in chains they shall come over ; and they shall fall 
down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, 
saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, 
there is no God." 

Most wonderful of all is that description of 
war and bloodshed and death that seems to have 



192 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

had such literal fulfilment in the Mahdi wars and 
in the raids of slavery, and which is followed by 
a prophecy of redemption, clear, specific, radiant 
with hope and contrasting sharply with the dark 
picture that precedes it: 

"They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds 
of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and 
the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the 
beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. In that time 
shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts 

". . . . from a people tall and smooth, 

Even from a people terrible from their beginning on- 
ward, 

A nation that meteth out and treadeth down, 

Whose land the rivers divide, 

To the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the 
Mount Zion." — Isaiah 18: 6, 7. 

The conclusions which Mr. Speer draws in 
Has 1 wm? D ° tne address referred to, apply therefore with pe- 
culiar force to the claims of the Egyptian Sudan : 
"If the missionary enterprise has this place in 
the thought of God, will we not ask ourselves 
whether it holds any corresponding place in our 
lives? Shall that be second with us which was 
first with God? Shall that for which God gave 
up His Son make no appeal to us that we should 
give up our sons, and that for which Jesus 
•Christ gave up His life strike no such chord in 
our hearts as shall call upon us to give up our 
lives for Him? What ought the individual life 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 193 

to think of that of which God thought so much ? 
If th« missionary enterprise is first in the 
thought of God, ought it not to be first in our 
own thoughts and lives? Is it the first in our 
lives? I speak to you men here this evening, Is 
the missionary enterprise the first business in 
your life? Does it have a place above your own 
business by which you earn your living? Does 
it have a place in your affections beyond any of 
your personal cares or concerns? If this thing 
is first with God, and we believe in God, must 
this thing not be first with us, God's sons?" 

The Cost of Conquest. 

The Cost of 

If the Egyptian Sudan is to be won for Christ, Con( i uest - 
what will be the cost of this spiritual conquest? 
"Which of you," says Christ, "desiring to build 
a tower, doth not first sit down and count the 
cost?" We do well therefore to estimate the 
price of victory in this holy warfare. 

1. As a part of the price of victory, Prayer 
may be placed -first. It is to be put first, both be- Pra y er First 
cause it is the most difficult to secure and be- 
cause it is the most vital. 

It is the most difficult to secure. "We cannot 
pointblank ask every one to pray for Missions," 
says Warneck. "It is much more difficult to pray 

for Missions than to give to them 

We can only really pray for missions if we ha- 

13 



194 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

'bitually lead a life of prayer, and a life of prayer 
can only be led if we have entered into a life of 

communion with God Prayer for 

missions is intercessory prayer, and prayer for 
oneself is doubtless easier than that for others. 
(Intercession which advocates the interests otf 
others before the throne of God with as much 
sincerity and readiness as its own interests, pre- 
supposes not only maturity in prayer, but raa- 
Praye? ent turity in the whole Christian life, and in particu- 
lar maturity in love. . . . There is a third 
condition, namely that I should know something 
about missions. Many prayers, not only prayers 
for missions, suffer from being so general as to 
be colorless; they are often long prayers, but 
they have no real content." 

Prayer is also the most vital contribution to ul- 
timate victory. This, of course, is a great mys- 
tery. We cannot understand how God should, 
humanly speaking, allow His activities to be di- 
rected or affected by prayer. Yet this is the clear 
teaching of Scripture; this is the meaning of 
Christ's prayer life; this is the experience of 
God's servants in all mission fields. Prayer 
makes a difference. 

Furthermore", there are some things in the 
missionary enterprise that can be wrought only 
by prayer and there are many things that can be 
wrought better by prayer. Among the important 
objects of prayer in connection with missions in 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 1% 

the Egyptian Sudan, is the policy and attitude 
of the Government toward missionary work and 
toward the people generally. Having pointed out 
that Paul's injunction calls for prayer "for (kings 
and all that are in high place," Warneck says, 
"We are not to pray that they may forcibly assist 
in the spread of Christianity by their earthly 
power, but that under their rule their subjects, 
their Christian subjects in particular, 'may lead 

Prayer for 

a quiet and peaceable life.' Those in authority Rulers. 
are so placed that they may maintain right, exer- 
cise justice, make for order and security, punish 
evil-doers, and protect the righteous; more the 
Apostle does not expect nor ask of them, nor do 
we to-day. But what a service would be ren- 
dered to missions even if those in whose hands 
lies the control of the mission field would carry 
on righteous and peaceful government, permit 
the preaching of the gospel unhindered, place its 
messengers and hearers undeF the protection of 
the rights of citizenship, and so render possible a 
quiet and peaceable life in all piety and honesty." 
To these general remarks of Warneck may be 
added more definite suggestions that prayer be 
offered for Government officials, many of them 
earnest Christian men, that their lives may bear 
full witness to their Christian profession ; for the 
formulating of Government policy, frequently in- 
fluenced by policies and personalities hundreds 
of miles distant from the scene of action : for the 



These Things. 



I96 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

missionaries in their relation to the Government 
that they may give no unrighteous offence, but 
may maintain sympathetic relations with the Gov- 
ernment and its representatives. 1 

Prayer should also be offered up in behalf of 
the health of the workers, foreign and native. In 
some fields, health may not be a serious problem. 
In the Sudan it is of great importance, involving 
anxiety, large expenditures and a far reaching 
effect upon the work. 

Prayer is needed for the guidance of the mis- 
Pray for sionaries in important decisions of missionary 

policy. The work in the Sudan is new ; the Mis- 
sion is young; work in Egypt affords no satisfac- 
tory analogy. The Mission is daily formulating 
the missionary policy of the future ; how greatly 
do the missionaries need prayer ! 

Prayer should also be offered for the mission- 
ary and his message. Such prayer is always nec- 
essary to vitalize the preaching of the Word, but 
it is doubly needed in the Sudan where the relig- 
ious conceptions of the black man have not yet 
been studied with accuracy and where the for- 
eigner's mastery of the Sudanese languages is 
still very imperfect. 

Prayer stands first among the conditions re- 
quiring to be fulfilled in the Christian conquest 
of the Sudan. The enterprise needs men and 

1 In this connection, the report of Lord Cromer upon mis- 
sionary work in the Sudan is an interesting study. See 
Appendix VIII. 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST I97 

women who will live Christ. And Christ had a 
two-fold life; there was His day life of service 
and work; but there was also His night life of 
prayer and intercession. Many are those who 
call themselves His followers, who have never 
followed Him in His night life of prayer. Prayer 
in America is needed to make things different 
in the Sudan. 

2. Another price that must be paid for the con- 
quest of the Sudan to Christ is the Consecration christian 
of Wealth in CJwistian Stewardship. It has been 
stated that the Scriptures give a larger place to 
the discussion of matters relating to wealth than 
to any other single subject. Was it because un- 
consecrated wealth has been at the root of the 
greatest and the most prevailing sins ? Or was it 
because consecrated wealth could enter so largely 
into the service of Christ's kingdom ? 

Missionary work in the Sudan has hitherto 
proved to be expensive. This means that wealth 
bears a peculiar relation to missionary effort in Need for 
the Sudan. This is not the case, to the same Money - 
degree, in all lands. There are heavy expenses 
in the Sudan due to the transportation of goods 
under difficult circumstances and therefore at 
high rates. There are greater expenses involved 
in missionary travel because more frequent fur- 
loughs are made imperative by climatic condi- 
tions. There is increased cost in having to pro- 



198 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Service by 
Money. 



Tithe the 
Minimum. 



vide everything in regions to which not even the 
advance guards of civilization have reached. 
There are unavoidable losses of time, money, and 
effort, in making experiments to discover what 
will best befit Sudanese conditions whether for 
building material or for style of residence, for 
industrial occupations or for agricultural de- 
velopment, for river navigation or for language 
study. 

All of this, however, is not an argument against 
such missionary work. Rather is it a matter for 
thanksgiving that the material things of life can 
be made to thus serve a spiritual Kingdom and 
that it is possible to relieve strain and safeguard 
health and prolong life by means of money. A 
more deplorable situation would be where money 
could render no such helpful service. And is it 
not little enough that those who cannot go to the 
front should lessen the hardships of those who 
do, by ministering along material lines? These, 
then, are some of the reasons why a part of the 
cost of conquest is the consecration of wealth 
through Christian stewardship. 

Only in a very limited way as yet have those 
conditions of Christian stewardship been fulfilled 
on which depends the Christian conquest of the 
non-Oiristian world and of the Egyptian Sudan. 
In Old Testament days, the law of the tithe was 
enacted. Its authority still abides as a minimum 
measure of giving for the rank and file. But if 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 199 

the method he the tithe, let the motive be Cal- 
vary. "The love of Christ constraineth," says 
Paul. To what? To give a tithe? No, not 
merely that; but this: "We thus judge that One 

died for all that they that live 

should no longer live unto themselves, but unto 
Him." Apply this great truth. Here are two 
men. The one has for his distinct gift, the gift 
of preaching, of teaching. The other has the gift 
of business, of money-making. The one gives his 
life to become a herald of the Cross, a mission- 
ary. The other gives his life to a business career. 
Both must live; both must have food and cloth- 
ing: the missionary and the business man. If 
each has a family, the family of each must be pro- 
vided for : the family of the business man and the 
family of the missionary. Doubtless each should 
make a reasonable provision against the needs of 
old age: the business man and the missionary 
alike. And now should not the entire output of 
life be, in each case, for the Kingdom of God: 
with the business man as with the missionary, — 
"that they that live should no longer live unto 
themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes 
died." This is what is meant by "being in busi- 
ness for the Lord." Of course, the business man 
will have to decide in the presence of his Lord at 
the end of every successful business venture 
whether he should minister at once to the needs 
of the Kingdom with the full measure of his pro- 



Money is Life. 



Life. 



20O SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

fits, or whether he shall reinvest those earnings 
which lie beyond the tithe and thus gain still 
greater earnings for his Lord. But the ultimate 
aim, the final object of all these increased earn- 
ings is to serve the Kingdom of Christ. Are any 
in business thus for their Lord? Thank God, 
there are such, and these hold a place of equal 
honor with him who goes to the front, for theirs 
is a like consecration. 

3. The Giving of Life is necessary to com- 
plete the price of victory and to meet the cost of 
conquest. In the parable 1 of our Lord, "the 
good seed" is said to represent "the sons of the 
kingdom." Now it is manifest that unless the 
seed be sown in new fields, these fields can never 
be brought under cultivation. Intensive cultiva- 
tion in one field can never of itself extend the har- 
vest to other fields. The seed must be sown in 
these new areas. Therefore some must go and 
cast their lives into the great regions beyond. 
This should be the ambition of each life: to be 
sown where there is no other "good seed." 

But, what particular qualifications does the 
Sudan field seem to call for? 

Personality and leadership are desirable qualifi- 
a Mission- ca ti ns for a missionary to the black peoples. 
This race responds quickly to leadership. Their 
tribal form of government, their methods of se- 
lecting a chief, suggest their readiness to fol- 

*Matt 13 : 38. 



Qualification; 

of 

ary 




r* Sh r 

H 2 d 






en 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 201 

low strong leadership. In some countries, too, 
missionary work is of an institutional character; 
the school, the hospital, the ecclesiastical organi- 
zation exert the chief influence here; the indi- 
viduality of the missionary is not so conspicuous. 
But with the black man of the Sudan, life is al- Leadership, 
together in terms of personal relationships and, 
other things being equal, he to whom God has 
given a strong personality may make the pro- 
founder impression. But it must be a personality 
through which love shines radiantly. The pagan 
races of Southern Sudan are, for the most part, 
glad and happy, smiling and merry, as the blacks 
so often are. A strong, hopeful and loving 
personality will therefore appeal to them power- 
fully. 

Culture is also a requisite. Quite misleading, 
although very prevalent, are the conceptions 
which would assign the crudest to pagan mission 
fields, and the more gifted to the more civilized 
sections of the world. Two obvious reasons call 
for culture in the missionary who goes to the Su- 
dan : where culture is most conspicuously absent, 
there does Christianity need most to show forth 
the power of true culture; furthermore, condi- 
tions of life in Southern Sudan tempt so greatly 
to carelessness in habits and manners that only a 
special emphasis upon culture can maintain in an 
isolated station the standards necessary to a 
proper social life. 



Culture. 



202 



SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 



Health. 



Even Temper. 



Adaptability. 



Health requirements must also be satisfied. 
These are usually the subject for a general medi- 
cal examination, but nothing more than general 
health and vigor have been required hitherto. 
Much more important is it to have that proper 
regard for rules which safeguard health ; for care- 
ful habits count for much more in resisting dis- 
ease than does natural robustness. 

An unruffled temper and an even disposition 
are among the most important requirements for 
successful missionary service in the Sudan. The 
"Sudan temper" is a climatic influence which is 
supposed to be the undoing of all but the most 
kindly disposed. Gordon once declared that no 
white man under forty years of age should be al- 
lowed in the Sudan. After that age, he thought 
there might be the poise and self-control that life 
in the Sudan seems to require. Without the 
grace of kindliness and geniality, the missionary 
is likely to first become disgusted with the natives, 
then with his fellow-missionaries and lastly with 
himself. A sense of justice is not sufficient ; there 
must be a genial disposition, for as an Indian mis- 
sionary once remarked, "The quarrels of mission- 
aries are always on principle." 

Adaptability to all sorts of conditions and situ- 
ations may seem like asking too much, but in so 
unsettled and undeveloped a field as the Egyptian 
Sudan, it is a most valuable qualification. Many 
are the occasions, even during the past decade and 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 203 

a half, when the success of the work has been 
safeguarded alone through the self-denying grace 
of the missionaries in adapting themselves to new 
conditions arising in this land of uncertainty, the 
Egyptian Sudan. And still there is need of men 
and women with infinite adaptability who in spite 
of difficulties and hindrances will find a way to 
success. 

The need for courage has perhaps been already 
implied, but it deserves emphasis. Before the Su- ourase - 
dan will be evangelized, there will need to be dis- 
plays of courage, physical and -moral, that shall 
stir the Church. There are dangers to be braved 
in exploration and itineration. There are diffi- 
cult situations to be solved in dealing with the na- 
tives. Not rashness, but courage will alone solve 
these problems. 

Last but supreme, is the qualification of spir- 
ituality. How hopeless is the condition of the un- spirituality, 
spiritual missionary ! The standards of Hinduism 
and Islam are high in this respect, though false. 
A prayerless life is incomprehensible to these 
non- Christians. No less so is it with the blacks 
of the Sudan. How also shall this missionary's 
own life be sustained? "The new missionary/' 
says Robert E. Speer, "joins some little company 
of men and women who are already under the 
fullest strain. He dare not draw on them for spir- 
itual life. There is none in the surrounding hope- 
less lifeless people. If he has no springs in him, 



204 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

where the Living Water is flowing, woe to him ! 
Can he give to others, if his own supply is scant ?" 
Better a spiritual man, even though he be a phy- 
sical wreck ! Such a man can at least go out and 
die, and his death will be like Cox's or Martyn's 
or Lull's, a clarion call to service. Such a man 
carries with him a sense of God's presence. A 
spiritual atmosphere seems to gather about his 
life. The very pagan knows that he is "a man of 
God." Sir John Lawrence, the Christian and mil- 
itary hero of the Punjab, was once asked : "What 
are your methods by which you accomplish such 
strange and wonderful results?" " It is not our 
methods," was the quick reply, "but our men." 

Prayer. Money, Life, these three measure the 

These Three 

but the Great- cost of conquest. But the greatest of these is life, 
for it includes the other two. Is the price too 
great to pay for carrying the Gospel to this 
Land of the Blacks? 

A boat is floating silently down the Sobat 

The Appeal of River. The high grass parts on the river bank 

the Shilluk. i 1 

and there rises Up suddenly a tall black figure. 
See him silhouetted against the sky, — a spear in 
one hand, a club in the other. Wonderingly, he 
watches the boat and gazes at the white faces on 
board. These men hold in their possession the 
Gospel of eternal life ; they hold the message of 
salvation. Across just a few hundred feet of 
water is that which spells life eternal, but the man 



CHALLENGE AND CONQUEST 205 

on the bank does not know it. He stands there 
watching the boat for a few fleeting moments, 
then sinks down again. The grass closes upon 
him and waves indifferently with the soft evening 
breeze. The man is gone; he has gone back to 
his little tukl and to his life of paganism. It is 
the nearest that he ever came to the Gospel mes- 
sage. It was his only chance. Is it fair ? Yet he 
is only a type. Hundreds of thousands do not 
get even that near to life. 

Again, the train swings around a sharp curve. 
The mountainous ranges of the Red Sea district 
have converted the stereotyped level prairies of ^ e e / r ^ al of 
the Sudan into a hilly country. All about is the 
thorny mimosa and scant grazing land, fading 
away in the distance into dreary stretches of des- 
ert land. Life here must be hard. The sandy 
soil is unresponsive to cultivation. The heavens 
are as brass. The air is like the blast of a fiery 
furnace. Just for a moment do you see any signs 
of life. As it happens, this is what you see : an 
Arab, bronzed by the sun, matching in color the 
brown sand about him; his rough woven cloak 
serves as a carpet where he kneels. His lips 
move in the "opening" prayer which more than 
200,000,000 Moslems know by heart : "El hamdu 
lillahi Rab el 'alamin," "Praise be to God the 
Lord of all the worlds." This is no prayer of a 
Pharisee on the street corner, for he is here in the 
desert alone and the train breaks in upon his 



206 SORROW AND HOPE OF THE SUDAN 

prayer unexpectedly. Through the car window 
the follower of Mohammed gets a glimpse of the 
white face of a follower of Christ. That is all. 
There is no stopping place for the train in all this 
region. That is the nearest this son of the desert 
will come to the Gospel message. Is it fair ? 

Prayer, money, life — the greatest of these is 
life! Would life seem wasted, if laid down for 
Africa and the Land of the Blacks? Living- 
Livingstone, stone didn't seem to think so, when he wrote in 
Christ gave his diary on the next to his last birthday : "My 
Jesus, my King, my Life, my all. I again dedi- 
cate my whole self to Thee. Accept me. And 
grant, O Gracious Father, that ere this year is 
gone I may finish my work." Gordon did not 
seem to think so when he wrote, "I declare sol- 
emnly that I would give my life willingly to save 
the sufferings of these people." Christ did not 
seem to think so, when He said to His disciples, 
"I am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd 

layeth down his life for the sheep I 

lay down my life No one taketh it 

away from me, but I lay it down of myself." 



APPENDIXES 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX I 



209 



STATISTICS OF THE "AMERICAN MISSION" ( UNITED 

PRESBYTERIAN), IN THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN. 

JANUARY I, 1912. 

Ordained Missionaries 5 

Laymen 2 

Medical Missionaries (Men) 2 

Women Missionaries, Unmarried 3 

Women Missionaries, Wives 6 

Foreign Missionaries under regular ap- 
pointment 18 

Native Ordained Minister 1 

Teachers 13 

Total Native Workers 14 



Total Foreign and Native Workers 32 

Main Stations 4 

Organized Congregation 1 

Preaching Stations 9 

Received by Profession 6 

Total Membership 163 

Primary Schools 6 

Industrial School 1 

Total Number of Schools 7 

Pupils in Primary Schools 586 

Pupils in Industrial School 14 

Total Number of Pupils 600 

Dispensaries or Clinics 2 

14 



210 APPENDIX 

Number of patients treated — Khartum. ..2565 

Doleib Hill. 9428 

n,993 

Number of village visits 27 

Number of operations — Doleib Hill 24 

Number of villages visited 7 

Total receipts $900.28 

Expended by the People for all Purposes : 

Church contributions $957-36 

Educational 1,623.24 

Medical 900.28 

Total $3,480.88 



APPENDIX 



211 



APPENDIX II 



STATISTICS OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY." 





1911- 


-1912 










s 
















a 










3 






a 


1 


& 








o (3 

EC eS 

13 






C3 


! 

o 


< 


O O j3 




3 

3 


o 


f- o 

OH 


Foreign Missionaries : 


















Total 


1 


4 


1 


6 


4 


2 


6 


12 


Ordained Men 


* 








3 


2 


5 


5 


Medical Men 




1 




1 








1 


Other Laymen 










1 






1 


Unmarried Women 


1 


3 




1 








5 


Wives 


















Female Native Chris- 


















tian Lay Agents 


4 


3 


2 


9 








9 


Native Communicants 


1 




1 


2 








2 


Baptized Native Chris- 


















tian Adherents 


4 


3 


2 


9 








9 


Baptisms During Year 


















Schools 


1 


1 


1 


3 








3 


Scholars : Total 


97 


50 


33 


180 








180 


Boys 


















Girls 


97 


50 


33 


180 








180 



*The work is supervised by Bishop LI. H. Gwynne. 

The following items of information are gleaned 
from The Church Missionary Society Gazette, of 
March i, 1913: 

Malek : 

The Rev. A. Shaw in charge. Daily classes of 
thirty boys are learning to read the Gospel fluently. 
Law. 

The Rev. C. A. Wilson in charge. Lau is the 
main settlement of the Cic Jieng and is in center of 
comparatively large population. Dispensary work 



212 APPENDIX 

is winning confidence of people. Over 4,000 people 
were treated. Two reading classes are held. 

The Azmdi People : 

Call has come to start work among these peo- 
ple, to the southwest of Malek. The Revs. A. Shaw 
and K. E. Hamilton are exploring in this territory. 

New Recruits'. 

There sailed in November, 1912, the Rev. E. 
C. Gore and Mr. G. P. Thomas. 



APPENDIX 



213 



APPENDIX III 

METEOROLOGICAL NOTES, I9IO-I9II (GORDON COL- 
LEGE, KHARTUM.) 



Temperature, Degrees Fahrenheit. 





Maximum 


Minimum 




bO 




1910-11 


ID 


-u 




-*-> 




Month 


■a 

5 





■a 

5 





O 






July 


110.1 


93.2 


83.2 


68.0 


90.0 


s.s.w. 


1.49 


August 


104.9 


87.6 


81.6 


69.2 


88.2 


s.s.w. 


0.57 


September 


106.7 


91.6 


81.6 


68.8 


88.2 


s.s.w. 


0.85 


October 


108.5 


91.0 


81.0 


70.4 


89.0 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


November 


101.3 


80.0 


72.4 


56.6 


79.8 


N.N.W. 


0.00 


December 


97.8 


76.1 


66.6 


50.4 


71.6 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


January- 


102.4 


68.0 


67.8 


46.6 


74.6 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


February 


105.8 


74.4 


77.9 


45.8 


72.0 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


March 


104.6 


84.2 


73.8 


55.2 


79.2 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


April 


113.5 


85.6 


84.4 


57.2 


86.2 


N.N.E. 


0.00 


May 


113.2 


100.2 


85.1 


68.4 


90.4 


N.E. 


0.27 


June 


114.4 


103.6 


87.8 


70.2 


92.4 


S.W. 


0.00 



214 APPENDIX 

APPENDIX IV 

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AT DOLEIB HILL. 

The following statement concerning climatic con- 
ditions on the lower Sobat was prepared by Dr. H. R. 
Magill, after careful observations made at Doleib Hill, 
during the year 1905: 

"At present, the only known source of danger is 
the malaria bearing mosquito, but with suitable build- 
ings and the exercise of common sense, this danger can 
in a large measure be avoided. If the experience of the 
last fourteen months can be taken as a fair index of our 
future health conditions, I would say that this climate 
is delightful and much more healthful than many places 
not a hundred miles away from my Philadelphia and 
New England readers. With the exception of Mrs. Mc- 
Laughlin, to whose serious illness in January, 1905, ref- 
erence was made in the last report, each member of 
the missionary circle enjoyed at least fair health during 
the year ending December 31, 1905. In the really very 
mild sicknesses brought to my attention, upon one occa- 
sion only did I find any suggestion of malaria, although 
signs of this important disease have always been care- 
fully sought for. From among the natives, however, a 
good number of malarial patients appeared. 

"It is very commonly believed that a country only 
600 or 650 miles away from the equator must necessarily 
have an intolerably hot climate. Allow me to state most 
emphatically that such is not the case in our district. We 
suffered much less from heat in the whole year than the 
people of Boston and vicinity usually do in one summer 
month. In fact, the cold occasioned much more discom- 



APPENDIX 



215 






fort than the heat, 
terest : 



The following table will be of in- 



1905 


§•♦3 




bO 





05 

fl5 


>> 








a> >. 


a> cS o3 


^ ^ 






§2 


si 


s-5 


gQ> 


B53 


P5Q 


January- 


94.7°F. 


62.2°F. 


78.3°F. 


32.5°F. 


None 


None 


February 


99.3 


67.4 


83.3 


31.9 


None 


None 


March 


104.4 


72.3 


88.3 


32.1 


None 


None 


April 


104.0 


73.9 


88.9 


30.1 


.04 


1. 


May 


99.0 


73.9 


86.4 


25.1 


3.6 


9. 


June 


92.0 


69.9 


80.9 


22.1 


3.24 


12. 


July 


91.3 


70.5 


80.9 


20.8 


4.3 


10. 


August 


90.0 


69.4 


79.7 


20.6 


5.2 


14. 


September 


92.8 


69.4 


81.1 


23.4 


6. 


11. 


October 


96.6 


68.9 


82.7 


27.7 


1.9 


8. 


November 


102.1 


67.6 


84.9 


34.5 


2.7 


5. 


December 


97.3 


62.2 


79.7 
82.9 


35.1 


None 
26.98 


None 
70. 



The figures were obtained under proper conditions 
from instruments thoroughly tested at the Government 
Observatory, Helwan. The total rainfall of 27 inches 
is below the average. 

"But these figures would convey only half the truth 
if I failed to speak of the beneficent effects of the cool 
winds, which rarely fail us for more than half an hour 
at a time. The wind follows a law from which there is 
very little variation. About sunrise, it begins gradually 
to increase its force until it reaches its full strength be- 
tween 8 and 9 A. M., then it continues blowing steadily 
until the sun has passed the zenith, after which it sinks 
down as gradually as it rose. From 3 P. M. to 5 P. M. 
the breeze is gentle ; but as the sun approaches the hori- 
zon it grows stronger and cooler ; and at 8 P. M. it has 
about one half the force it had at 8 A. M. Before mid- 
night the breeze again becomes gentle, but very cool and 
refreshing, and continues so until the dawning of a new 
day arouses it to renewed activity. Thank God for the 



2l6 APPENDIX 

winds ! Because of them, we have no discomfort from 
the heat, and a temperature of ioo degrees in the shade 
seems just right. 

"As you know, our year has two seasons only, the 
wet and the dry. The dry season begins in November 
and ends in May. During this period the prevailing 
winds are northerly, there is no rain, the rivers fall, the 
swamps and khors dry up, and mosquitoes practically 
disappear from Doleib Hill and its vicinity, although 
they persist in great numbers along the White Nile. 
Early in May, the south and southeasterly rain-bearing 
winds begin to blow, and, before the month has ended, 
the rainy season is in full blast. The rains of May and 
June are quickly absorbed by the thirsty ground, and 
there are few breeding places for mosquitoes; but in 
July, pools form in the low places after the heavy 
rains, and remain long enough to permit mosquitoes to 
breed in great numbers, and from this time until the 
middle of October, it is unwise to be out after sunset, 
or to sleep without a mosquito net. 

"From this brief statement, it will be seen, that dur- 
ing five and a half months of the year (from the first 
of December to the middle of May), there are practic- 
ally no mosquitoes in this vicinity; that there are three 
months (from the middle of May to the first of July, 
and from the middle of October to the first of Decem- 
ber) in which mosquitoes are not troublesome ; and that 
there are three and a half months (from the first of 
July to the middle of October) during which mosquitoes 
are a dangerous pest. 

"Our water supply (the Sobat) is excellent and un- 
failing. It is more palatable than the water of the White 
Nile or the water of the Zeraf. It is also free from dis- 
ease-producing micro-organisms, at least I have seen 
no diseases which could be numbered among the water- 



APPENDIX 217 

born. The Shilluks drink right out of the river and the 
khors. 

"My present opinion is, as you see, a decidedly fa- 
vorable one, although I came here feeling sure that the 
climate must be as described by so many travelers. I 
trust that this statement may prevent the friends of Su- 
dan missionaries from worrying about our health. The 
climate seems good, and life and property are much safer 
than in any town of over 30,000 inhabitants in any of 
the so-called Christian countries." 



2l8 APPENDIX 

APPENDIX V 

ETHNOLOGY OF THE SUDAN. 

Crowfoot divides the population of the Egyptian 
Sudan into four main divisions, besides a number of 
sub-divisions, as follows : 

I. Negroes : 

i. The Swamp Negroes : Shilluk, Shuli, Bari, Jur, 
Nuer, Dinka, Anuak, etc. 

2. The Iron- Working Negroes: Bongo, Mittu, 

Golo, Sheri, Madi, Kreich, etc. 

3. The A-Zande or Nyam Nyam. 

4. The Latuka. 

II. Nubas: 

1. The Barabra: natives of Dongola, Mahas, Suk- 
kot, Haifa. 

III. Begas: 

1. Abada. 

2. Besharin. 

3. Amarar. 

4. Hadendoa. 

5. Halenga. 

6. Beni Amer. 

7. Habab. 

IV. Arabs. 

Diedrich Westermann, out of his encyclopaedic lin- 
guistic knowledge, proves the existence of a great family 
of Sudan Languages, "which extend from the Red Sea 
and Abyssinia through the whole Continent to the At- 
lantic Ocean, from the northern Cameroons to Sene- 



APPENDIX 219 

gambia." This Sudan Language System breaks into 
three groups : the Eastern, the Central and the Western. 
The Nilotic Languages naturally are identified with the 
Eastern group and divide into (1) the Niloto-Hamitic 
languages of British and German East Africa; and (2) 
the Niloto-Sudanic Languages, which he again divides 
into: (a) The High Nilotic Group, comprising Mittu, 
Madi, Madi-Kaya, Abo-Kaya, Abaka, Luba, Wira, 
Lendu, and Moru; (b) the Middle Nilotic Group, com- 
prising the Shilluk cluster of languages ; and (c) the 
Low Nilotic Group, comprising Dinka and Nuer. 



220 APPENDIX 

APPENDIX VI 

SHILLUK RELIGIOUS CEREMONY. 

Professor Westermann gives the following account 
of the ceremony followed in invoking health for a sick 
man, beginning with the only prayer to Jwok which he 
discovered among the Shilluks : 

"I implore thee, thou God, I pray to thee during 
the night. How are all people kept by thee all days ! 
And thou walkest in the midst of the (high) grass, I 
walk with thee; when I sleep in the house, I sleep with 
thee! To thee I pray for food, and thou givest it to 
the people; and water to drink; and the soul is kept 
(alive) by thee. There is no one above thee, thou God. 
Thou becamest the grandfather of Nyikango ; it is thou 
(Nyikango) who walkest with God; thou becamest the 
grandfather (of man), and thy son Dak. If a famine 
comes, is it not given by thee? So as this cow stands 
here, is it not thus ; if she dies, does her blood not go to 
thee? Thou God, to whom shall we pray, is it not to 
thee? Thou God, and thou who becamest Nyikango, 
and thy son Dak ! But the soul (of man), is it not thine 
own? It is thou who liftest up (the sick)." 

This is all ; and the cow is speared ; and the con- 
tents of her stomach are taken out, and are thrown on 
the body of the man who is sick ("is with God") ; and 
water is poured on his body. And one ear of the cow is 
cut off ; it is cut into strips ; these are tied together and 
the whole is tied around the leg (of the sick one). And 
the right foreleg (of the cow) is cut off, and it is cook- 
ed at once ; the people are not allowed to taste it. They 
make a little broth out of it; that is poured on the 
ground; it is the thing (property) of God. 



APPENDIX 221 

APPENDIX VII 

SHILLUK FOLKLORE. 

The following animal story, song and riddles are 
quoted from Professor Westermann's "The Shilluk Peo- 
ple; Their Language and Folklore": 

The Camel and the Donkey. 

Somebody had a camel and also a donkey ; they used 
to carry goods every day, but they got nothing to eat, 
so they were very thin. One day the camel said, "Dear 
me!" Again he said, "Donkey!" The donkey replied, 
"Eh?" The camel said, "We are going to die!" "So it 
is," replied the donkey, "we are going to die." The 
camel said, "Suppose we run away, would you consent?" 
The donkey replied, "Yes, I would consent!" Then he 
said, "Let us flee !" 

And they went traveling. They arrived in a very 
distant place ; there they saw an island in the middle of 
a river. There was much grass. And they said, "How 
shall we get there?" The donkey confessed, "I do not 
know!" But the camel said, "We will swim." The 
donkey asked, "Shall we not be drowned?" "No," said 
the camel, "we shall not be drowned." (Here follows 
some camel-talk.) He said again "God is great! We 
shall arrive safely." They went into the river; the 
donkey went behind the camel. And they swam. 

When they came to the bank, they got out of the 
water. They were very glad ; there were no men on the 
island. They ate and then lay down ; the next day they 
grazed again (the whole day) , and when the night came, 
they lay down. Thus they did every day. The donkey 
and the camel became fat: their bellies became full. 



222 APPENDIX 

They used to drink water in the river; and from there 
returned to grazing. 

One day the donkey said to the camel: "Friend!" 
He replied, "Eh?" The donkey said, "You have indeed 
succeeded in bringing us into a good position ; I am 
quite surprised; if it had not been for you, we would be 
dead now !" Such was the talk of the donkey. The 
camel replied, "Are you not a stupid fellow? Do you 
know anything? Are you not an ignorant one?" So 
said the camel. One day later the donkey continued, 
"Friend !" — So he used to call the camel. The camel re- 
plied, "Eh?" The donkey said, "I have some thoughts 
('little seeds') in my head; how may it be with them?" 
"Dear me," replied the camel, "what may be your 
thoughts ?" Then the donkey was silent ; and they went 
to sleep. But the next morning he began again, 
"Friend!" The camel said, "Eh?" The donkey said, 
"These things (thoughts) are still working in my head." 
"You begin to forget;" warned the camel, "do you not 
remember, when we were caught (every morning) and 
were always beaten with a club?" "I will be silent," and 
he remained silent. On the next morning he continued, 
"I cannot eat on account of this thing; my mind is al- 
ways wandering." The camel said, "Why, if you talk so 
loud, the people who are traveling on the river will 
hear us." At last the donkey begged, "Let me bray! 
just once; that is what is troubling me." Thus the 
talk of the donkey. The camel said, "Well, do bray! 
I am worn out by you. Death will come to all of us, 
not to me alone!" And the donkey ran, snorting, and 
braying exceedingly loud, and he snorted again. Some 
people who were traveling in a boat, heard him; they 
said, "Where does that donkey cry?" They went 
ashore saying, "There must be people on the island." 
They searched in the grass, but there were no people. 
At last they found the donkey and the camel. They 



APPENDIX 223 

seized them and beat them with clubs. The camel said, 
"Did I not tell you, saying: we shall be found? but now, 
what do you say?" The donkey was silent. They both 
were driven away and were bound with boat-ropes, in 
order to pull the boat. The rope of the camel broke, 
and he ran away. The people pursued him, but he out- 
ran them. So the donkey was left with the strangers. 
He was beaten with clubs ; the boat was heavy ; he died. 
Some days later the camel came to the river bank to 
drink; he found the donkey dead in the water; he was 
bloated. And he said, "Get up !" (Here follows camel- 
talk.) He said again, "Get up and bray: formerly I 
told you, do not cry! But you said, something is 
('working') in my head. Now get up !" But the donkey 
was dead. So the camel went to drink and then re- 
turned into the forest. 

Mourning Song. 

Agwetnyanedong, the country is starved, the peo- 
ple are dying. Agwet, son of Nyikang, they are mourn- 
ing, stretching up their hands. 

Riddles. 

Brothers who never hurt each other? 
The two horns of a cow. 

Which sorcerer spends the whole night in swinging? 
The tail of a cow. 

The gray one running toward the fields ? 
The mist. 

(Who asks) I am traveling, where are you going? 
The shadow of man. 



224 APPENDIX 

APPENDIX VIII 

EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL REPORT OF LORD CROMER 
IN I9O3. 

"An opportunity was afforded to me, during my re- 
cent tour in the Sudan, of visiting the station estab- 
lished by the American missionaries on the Sobat River. 
The establishment consists of Mr. and Mrs. Giffen and 
Dr. and Mrs. McLaughlin. I was greatly pleased with all 
I saw. The Mission is manifestly conducted on those 
sound, practical, common-sense principles which, in- 
deed, are strongly characteristic of American Mission 
work in Egypt. No parade is made of religion. In 
fact the work of conversion, properly so-called, can 
scarcely be said to have commenced. Mr. Giffen has, 
very wisely, considered that, as a preliminary to the in- 
troduction of Christian teaching, his best plan will be 
to gain some insight into the ideas, manners, and cus- 
toms of the wild Shilluks amongst whom he lives, to 
establish in their minds thorough confidence in his in- 
tentions, and to inculcate some rudimentary knowledge 
of the Christian moral code. In these endeavors he 
appears to have been eminently successful. By kindly 
and considerate treatment he is allaying those sus- 
picions which are so easily aroused in the minds of sav- 
ages. I found considerable numbers of Shilluks, men 
and women, working happily at the brick-kiln which he 
has established in the extensive and well-cultivated gar- 
den attached to the Mission. I may remark incident- 
ally that cotton, apparently of good quality, has already 
been produced. The houses in which the members of 
the Mission live have been constructed by Shilluk labor. 
I addressed the men present, through an interpreter, 
and fully satisfied myself that they were happy and con- 



APPENDIX 225 

tented. They understand that they can now no longer 
be carried off into slavery, that they will be treated with 
justice and consideration, and paid for their labor. 

"Not only can there be no possible objection to 
Mission work of this description, but I may add that, 
from whatever point of view the matter is considered, 
the creation of establishments conducted on the prin- 
ciples adopted by Mr. Giffen and Dr. McLaughlin can- 
not fail to prove an unmixed benefit to the population 
amongst whom they live. I understand that the Ameri- 
can missionaries contemplate the creation of another 
Mission post higher up the Sobat. It is greatly to be 
hoped that they will carry out this intention. They may 
rely on any reasonable encouragement and assistance 
which it is in the power of the Sudan Government to 
afford. It is, I venture to think, to be regretted that 
none of the British Missionary Societies appear so far 
to have devoted their attention to the southern portions 
of the Sudan, which are inhabited by pagans. Not only 
do these districts present a far more promising field for 
missionary enterprise than those provinces whose popu- 
lation is Mohammedan, but the manifest political objec- 
tions which exist in allowing mission work in the latter, 
do not in any degree exist in the former case. I en- 
tirely agree with the opinion held by Sir Reginald Win- 
gate, and shared, I believe, by every responsible offi- 
cial who can speak with local knowledge and authority 
on the subject, that the time is still distant when mis- 
sion work can, with safety and advantage, be permitted 
amongst the Moslem population of the Sudan. 

"Subsequently to writing these remarks I visited the 
Austrian Roman Catholic Mission, situated a short dis- 
tance south of Fashoda. It is also very well conducted, 
and deserved the same amount of encouragement as that 
accorded to the American establishment. 

"I should add that, although mission work, properly 



226 APPENDIX 

so-called, cannot as yet be permitted amongst the Mos- 
lem population of the Sudan, I see no objection to the 
establishment of Christian schools at Khartum. Parents 
should, of course, be warned, before they send their 
children to the schools, that instruction in the Christian 
religion is afforded. It will be then for them to judge 
whether they wish their children to attend or not. Prob- 
ably the best course to pursue will be to set aside certain 
hours for religious instruction, and leave it optional to 
the parents whether or not their children shall attend 
during those hours. It must be remembered that be- 
sides the Moslem population, there is a small number of 
Christians at Khartum. These might very probably wish 
to take advantage of the schools." 



APPENDIX 227 

APPENDIX IX 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

General 

Gleichen, Lieut.-Col. Count, The Anglo- Egyptian Su- 
dan. 2 vols. Wyman & Sons, London, E. C. 10s. 

Westermann, D., The Shilluk People: Their Language 
and Folklore. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin, or Board 
Foreign Missions United Presbyterian Church, 
Philadelphia. 

Baker, Sir S. W., Ismalia: Expedition to Central Af- 
rica. Macmillan Co., London. $1.40. 

Speke, Capt. J. H., Journal of the Discovery of the 
Source of the Nile. J. JVL Dent & Co., Edinburgh. 

$-35- 
Baker, Sir S. W., Discovery of the Albert Nyanza. 

Macmillan Co., New York & London. $1.40. 
Baker, Sir S. W., The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia. 

Macmillan Co., New York & London. $1.40. 

Historical 

Johnston, Sir H., The Nile Quest: Story of Explora- 
tions. F. A. Stokes Co., New York. $1.45. 

Wingate, Major F. R., Mahdism and the Egyptian Su- 
dan. Macmillan Co., New York. (Out of print.) 

Slatin, Col. Rudolf Pasha, Fire and Sword in the Egyp- 
tian Sudan. E. Arnold, London. ($2.00.) 

Wingate, Major F. R., (Ohrwalder), Ten Years' Cap- 
tivity in the Mahdi's Camp. Low, Marston & Co., 
London. 2s. 6d. 

Steevens, G. W., With Kitchener to Khartum. Dodd, 
Mead & Co., New York. $1.50. 



228 APPENDIX 

Biographical 

Bonlger, D. C, Life of General Gordon. Thomas Nel- 
son & Sons, New York. 35 cents. 

Hake, A. E., The Journal of Major-Gen. C. G. Gordon 
at Khartum. Kegan Paul Co., London. 3s 6d. 

Hill, G. B., Col. Gordon in Central Africa, 1874-79. Miac- 
millan Co., New York. $1.75. 

Butler, Col. Sir Win. R, Charles George Gordon. Mac- 
millan Co., New York. 75 cents. 

Missionary 

Giffen, J. K., The Egyptian Sudan. F. H. Revell Co., 
New York. $1.12, postpaid. 

Annual Report of the Board of Foreign Missions of 
the United Presbyterian Church of N. A., free. Ad- 
dress this Board at 200 North 15th Street, Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Annual Report of Church Missionary Society for Africa 
and the East, 2s. Address this Society at Salisbury 
Square, E. C, London, England. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abyssinia, 138, 181. 
Adaptability, 202-203. 
Agriculture, see Cultivation. 
American Mission, 131-178, 

see Appendix I. 
Amusement, 118-120. 
Animal life, 35. 
Anuak, 126. 
Area, 21-24. 

Baker, Sir Samuel, 51-57. 
Bibliography, see Appendix 

IX. 
Bird life, 39. 
Boundaries, 27. 

Carson, 154, 158. 

Cattle, 30. 

Children, 117. 

Christianity, early, 48 ; 
modern, 110 ; see Mis- 
sionary. 

Christian Endeavor Society, 
173. 

Church, see Evangelical 
Church. 

Church Missionary Society, 
131-133, 177-178, see Ap- 
pendix II. 

Climate, 32-33, 60, 155, 165, 
see Appendix III, IV. 

Comity, 177-178. 

Country, 17, 22, 27-31. 

Courage, 203. 

Cruelty, 91-92. 

Cultivation, 31, 34. 

Culture, 201. 

Dangers, see Climate, Snakes. 
Desert, 17, 27, 30. 
Dinka, 125. 



Distances, 18, 22-24, 65, 183. 
Doleib Hill, 140-170. 
Dress, 113, 128. 
Durra, Indian millet (Sor- 
ghum vulgar e) . 

Edinburgh Conference, 186. 
(Educational, 168, 173, see 

Industrial. 
Egypt, 47-50, 57, 59, 64, 69, 

76, 98, 100, 107, 137, 172- 

173. 
Egyptians, 107, 140-142, 172- 

174. 
"Elliott, The," 161. 
Ethnology, see Appendix V. 
"Evangel, The," 171. 
Evangelical Church, 134, 

172-173. 
Evangelistic Work, leO-ie^ 

172-173. 
Expense, 197-198. 
Exploration, 18, 19, 39-43. 

Famine, 92-94, 167, 183. 
Folklore, see Appendix VII. 
Food, 115-116, see Re- 
sources. 
Forests, 28, 29, 31. 

Game, see Animal life. 

Gessi, 67-69. 

Giffen, 29-30, 37-39, 113, 

137-153. 
Good nature, 202. 
Gordon, Gen. C. G., 57-86, 

97-99, 206. 
Government, 99-103, 132, 

141, 195, see Appendix 

VIII. 
Grazing land, 30. 



231 



232 



INDEX 



Hicks Pasha, 76. 

History, 19 ; of Sudan, 47- 

102; of Shilluks, 121-123; 

of missionary effort, 131- 

149. 
Health, 31, 155, 196, 201- 

202. 
Herodotus, 40. 
Houses, see Residences. 

Isaiah, 20. 
Ismail Pasha, 57. 
Industrial Work, 145-148. 
Islam, see Mohammedanism. 
Intellectual, 114, 117, 184. 

Johnston, Sir Harry, 39, 41. 
109. 

Jwok, 121. 

Jibba, 89 ; a dervish robe re- 
sembling a gown covered 
with patches to symbolize 
poverty. 

Khalifa, see Mahdism, 87, 88, 

89. 
Khartum, Fall of, 79-82. 
Kitchener, 95-100. 

Livingstone, 44, 206. 
Language, 109, 157-160, 161, 

164. 
Leadership, 200. 

Mahdi, 73-76, 86. 
Mahdi Rebellion, 73-99. 
Maps, 25, 42. 
Map-making, 40-43. 
Missionary, 19, 20, 36, 131- 

178. 
Mountains, 31. 
Mohammed Ahmed, see 

Mahdi Rebellion. 
Marriage, 116. 
Mohammedanism, 109, 160, 

168, 177, 186-190 ; see 

Mahdi Rebellion. 



Mathews, Rev. G. D., 136. 
Missionaries, Names of, 153- 

154, 177 ; Qualifications 

needed, 200-204. 
McCreery, 159. 
Medical, 168-170, 175-177. 
Morality. 184. 

Northern Sudan, 30, 33, 34, 

35, 107-110, 172-178. 
Napata, 47. 

Negro, see People, Southern 

Sudan. 
Nyikang, 121. 
Nuer, 126-128, 171. 
Nasser station, 170-172, 183. 
Need, 181-185. 

Omdurman, 110. 
Omdurman, Battle of, 96. 

Ptolemy, 41. 
Provinces, 26. 
People, 107-128. 
Providences, 156-157. 
Prayer, 193-197. 

Railroad, 22-24. 
Resources, 33-36, 100. 
Races in Sudan, 107-128. 
Religion', 109, 120-124, 184- 

185 ; see Appendix VI ; 

see Missionary. 
Roman Catholics, 131-132. 
Residences, 145-148, 155. 

Sobat River, 43, 111, 113, 

140-172. 
Snakes, 36-39. 
Southern Sudan, 30, 33, 35, 

36, 111-128, 140-172, 187- 
190. 

Sudan, 24 ; see Country, Ex- 
ploration, Area, Provinces, 
Boundaries. 

Steevens, 17, 27-28, 99. 

Slavery, 19, 50-70, 182. 



INDEX 



233 



Steamer, 22. 

Sehweinfurth, 28-29. 

Steppes, 30. 

Stanley, 41. 

Slatin Pasha, 73, 88. 

Shulla, same as Shilluk, but 
without the Arabic end- 
ing. 

Shilluk, 112-125, 144-170, 
157-160. 

Stewardship, 197-200. 

Spirituality, 203. 



Travel, see Railroad, Steamer, 
65. 

Urgency, 186-190. 

Wingate, 21, 99. 

War, 94. 

Westermann, 109, 114, 124. 

Women, 18, 112-113. 

Watson, Rev. Andrew, 137. 

Wealth, 197-200. 



MAR 34 1913 



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